PARIS: Chinese duo Zheng Siwei/Huang Yaqiong claimed the badminton mixed doubles gold medal at the Paris Olympics after beating South Korea’s Kim Won-ho/Jeong Na-eun in the final on Friday.
Zheng and Huang, silver medalists at the Tokyo Olympics, secured China’s 13th gold medal in Paris with a decisive 21-8, 21-11 victory, wrapping up the match in 41 minutes.
Entering the knockout stage as the top-ranked pair in their group, Zheng/Huang overcame Japan’s Yuta Watanabe and Arisa Higashino in the semifinal with scores of 21-14, 21-15.
“We have learned from our past Olympic experience and prepared meticulously for this cycle. This time, we not only worked hard but also worked smart,” Zheng said, reflecting their victory.
In the bronze medal match earlier on Friday, Japan’s Watanabe and Higashino edged out South Korea’s Seo Seung-jae and Chae Yu-jung with a 21-13, 22-20 win.
Chinese women’s doubles top seeds Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan overcame Malaysia’s Tan Pearly and Thinaah Muralitharan in the semifinal, winning 21-12, 18-21, 21-15.
Fellow Chinese pair Liu Shengshu and Tan Ning defeated Japan’s Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida in straight sets, 21-16, 21-19, setting the stage for an all-China final on Saturday.
In the men’s doubles, Chinese duo Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang battled past Malaysia’s Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik with a 2-1 victory, earning a spot in Sunday’s final against the reigning champions, Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin of Chinese Taipei.
In the men’s singles, Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn knocked out top seed Shi Yuqi of China in straight sets to advance to the semifinals. Joining him in the semifinals are Denmark’s second seed Viktor Axelsen, Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia and India’s Lakshya Sen.
