Like drawing out water from the napa cabbage when brining and seasoning Korean kimchi, Seo Seung-jae emptied Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty off their best robust game first.The world champions, Seo and Kim Won-ho, at that point, trailed the Indians 7-14 in the opener of the China Masters final.Seo then slowly dropped defensive returns like precise chilli flakes to foment chaos among the Indians. The fermented pickle that Satwik-Chirag found themselves in, was the 21-19, 21-15 losing score – in their second successive final.You could pick on and point out that Satwik and Chirag could have tried this, or that, stayed mentally stronger, played steadier, et al. But the 45-minute defeat was simply and ungrudgingly down to Seo’s brilliance. And his abundant talent in defending against one of the world’s strongest attacks, while turning the tables on the Indians.Seo lost the Olympics mixed-doubles semifinal and medal to now-partner Kim, and returned empty handed from the Paris Games. This time at the Paris World Championships, two legends, Indonesian Hendra Setiawan and Taiwanese Lee Yang, both Olympic champions, dropped by to talk to the man considered the most talented contemporary doubles player. He combines the court-craft of both – fast defense to open up the court, and an attack that comes disguised as defense. It’s very Korean technically and it wreaks proper havoc.The 14-7 was primarily due to the Indians playing down strokes aimed at the Korean’s feet. And a flat, fast game that went spinning, just centimetres above the net tape so it came awkwardly on Korean faces. Then Seo, a left-hander with very many variations on strokes, began to read the Indians and found angles with which to turn defense into subtle stinging attacks, to find gaps.He fell back to the back court, and simply absorbed the reversals arising from mistakes of an error-prone and slightly rattled Kim. The Koreans are absolutely ace at low defense – they can dig out shuttles inches from the floor, so the Indian smashing doesn’t faze them. But some of Seo’s returns defied physics. Like he bounced the shuttle once, whacked it in fact, on the meshing of the net, and it flew vertical and tippled over to the other side. Many will call it freakish luck, that mocks Newton’s third law with its upward booster force. But it’s the sort of skills Korean doubles pros consciously nurture, and call hobbies.Story continues below this adIndians didn’t give up at all, and were in the hunt at 19-19 after some reflex returns sailed wide from Kim. But Seo always had a diagonal angle ready to drive the shuttle into Indian bodies and took the opening set on a trot.The Indians were defending reasonably well, and their attack hadn’t come undone. But in the second, Seo stepped ahead to close out the net, scattering the shuttle with blocks and pushes and pinprick pings that came from droll, unthreatening defense. Seo does it to every pairing there is, and frankly has bolstered his patience because he’s played so much mixed doubles, where rallies easily go to the 70-shot mark, and you are in constant problem-solving mode. He doesn’t tire of retrieving, he’s inexhaustible when out-thinking. So he picked apart the Indian attack, like a pecking bird.One crucial aspect of defanging Indians was cramping Satwik’s ability to lift. While his smashes are legendary, his smartly lobbed high lifts often rake in points for Indians on the back line. Seo starved him off the space to execute his lift that takes pace off the shuttle and buys them time. It’s elite diagnosis by Seo, and ace Korean-style neutralizing of the opponent by nipping the strokes in the bud.The second set was sealed at 15-11 for the Koreans, but it simply became a means of entertainment for the neutral Shenzhen crowd, treated to a Seo-show for a 21-15 score.Story continues below this adSeo has had brattish run-ins and rebellions with his federation in the past, but is a darling in Korea because he makes every partnership work. He has three World Championship titles with three different partners. It’s ridiculous southpaw talent, but also his personal ambition to get better, upturn leads and always stay in the hunt.Badminton is his stage of course, but Seo has garnered popularity comparable to K-drama stars. With his mid-parting and curls, he’s even considered Goblin Kim Shin of badminton, after the acclaimed series lead, Gong Yoo. In the badminton universe, spanning a crazed Far East following, he is called ‘Dori Papa’, tagged after his new-born Dori, whose birth and every milestone gets followed by millions on Instagram.With nine finals this season, and every major Super 1000 title, the Koreans are riding a wave of confidence that Satwik pointed out helped them at the 19-19 juncture, and with some extraordinary shots. After his Olympics heartbreak, he had declared, “From now on I’ll be a player who never stops challenging.” For the world it unfortunately means deeper the ferment, stronger the pickle.