After a two-year run of poor form and debilitating injuries, Taiwanese badminton duo Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) and Lee Yang (李洋) yesterday captured their first title since winning the men’s doubles gold at the Tokyo Olympics in late July 2021.
Wang and Lee upended fifth seeds Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi of Japan 21-19, 21-13 in the men’s doubles final of the Daihatsu Japan Open, almost two years to the day after they won Taiwan’s first-ever Olympic gold medal in badminton in the same city.
The victory had not been expected, as Lee originally booked a flight home on Saturday, but it certainly brought the pair joy and relief.
Photo: AP
“I love Tokyo,” Wang wrote on Facebook. “It has finally happened after making everybody wait so long... Thank you everyone for waiting with us.”
“This wasn’t just my first title since winning Olympic gold, it was my first Super 750 title, which is a real milestone,” he added, referring to the tournament’s tier, one of the highest just below the Olympics, World Championships and Super 1000 events.
“We finally have our breakthrough,” Lee wrote in a separate Facebook post.
“I can’t guarantee that we’ll always win in the future, but I will continue to feel passionate about the game and appreciate everything that badminton brings to me,” Lee said.
The victory came after the Taiwanese duo, who came into the Tokyo event unseeded and ranked 18th in the world, ran a gauntlet of seeded teams, proving they might have finally regained their form.
Against Hoki and Kobayashi, the Taiwanese maintained a steady lead throughout the first game until the Japanese ran off three straight points to tie it at 19. Lee and Wang rallied to win the next two points, and they dominated the second game after falling behind 7-6.
The victory would help the duo build up ranking points to earn the best possible seed in next year’s Paris Olympics.
“This is part of the points cycle for Paris, so getting a lot of ranking points will take some of the pressure off,” Lee told the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper).
He also acknowledged that their difficulties in the past two years were due to more than just injuries.
“We have to face up [to the issues] with courage. We can’t just ignore it when we don’t play well. We have to find ways to deal with the issues we have,” Lee said.
Lee and Wang were last night to fly to Sydney to prepare for the Super 500 Sathio Group Australian Open, which starts tomorrow.
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
RSS