For Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin, there were no chances left: Either beat the world’s top-ranked men’s doubles badminton team from Indonesia for the first time or see their Olympic hopes dashed in the preliminary round.
The world No. 3 Taiwanese duo answered the challenge, edging past Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo in their final Group A match 21-18, 15-21, 21-17 to qualify for the final eight knockout round.
“We finally made it,” Lee wrote on Facebook after beating the Indonesian duo.
Photo: AFP
However, he said that the competition still had a long way to go.
“We’re happy not only because we won, but because we were able to score a breakthrough,” Wang wrote on Facebook.
In a match that was tight throughout, the Taiwanese duo tried to apply pressure, attacking whenever possible, taking chances at the net to pick off shots early and keeping their opponents off balance.
While that worked in the first game, unforced errors, mostly defensive shots that went beyond the baseline, began to haunt them in the next frame, helping the Indonesians even up the match.
In the decider, Lee and Yang held a narrow lead for much of the game, but it took repeated smashes, an opportune net cord and a few errors by their opponents to take them to victory.
“They played very well because they really need to win this match to pass the group stage,” Gideon said. “Their style is fast and they didn’t make mistakes.”
To advance to the final eight, Lee and Yang had to finish in the top two of their group, and their chances seemed bleak after they were upset in their opening group match by the world No. 10 duo from India, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty.
They then defeated Ben Lane and Sean Vendy from the UK before securing a 2-1 record in Group A with their victory yesterday, putting them in a three-way tie with the teams from Indonesia and India.
However, the Indian team were eliminated because they only won one more game than they lost (4-3) in their three matches, while the Taiwanese had a plus-2 rating (5-3).
Lee and Wang have played together since 2019, and had high expectations coming into the Olympics after sweeping three high-level tournaments, including the HSBC Badminton World Federation World Tour Finals in Thailand this year.
Additional reporting by Reuters
The Kansas City Chiefs wrapped up a brief visit to Brazil on Friday with a season-opening loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, but despite the defeat, the team outshone their divisional rivals in the fight for the hearts and minds of Brazilian fans. In Sao Paulo for just the second-ever NFL game in the city, Chiefs players — especially quarterback Patrick Mahomes and tight end Travis Kelce — were treated as major celebrities throughout their stay, turning Corinthians Arena into a scene reminiscent of the Chiefs’ Arrowhead Stadium. Before kickoff, crowds of fans gathered around the Chiefs’ tunnel, eager to catch a
New Zealand stayed firm at their Eden Park fortress to claim an attritional 24-17 win over South Africa in a heavyweight clash between the world’s top two rugby sides yesterday. Under pressure after conceding a first-ever defeat on Argentine soil against the Pumas two weeks ago, the All Blacks responded with a performance of grit and discipline to stretch their unbeaten run at their Auckland stronghold to 51 matches. Two well-taken tries by Emoni Narawa and Will Jordan set up a 14-3 lead at halftime before Quinn Tupaea grabbed a third five-pointer for the hosts 13 minutes from time. Well-held for most of
The Wallabies trusted their instincts to keep pushing for a late try instead of a potential equalizing penalty goal late in their Rugby Championship Test match yesterday against Argentina, with prop Angus Bell scoring the clinching try in the sixth minute of added time to give Australia a comeback 28-24 win. The Wallabies were awarded three kickable penalties after the 80th minute, but kept pushing in search of the match-winning try, which was finally delivered by an unlikely hero in reserve prop Bell. “It’s just relieving,” Bell said. “It’s just awesome we could get the win in the end; not go for
Mikel Merino on Sunday scored a hat-trick as a majestic Spain thumped Turkey 6-0 away in World Cup qualifying, while a brilliant Florian Wirtz free-kick helped Germany beat Northern Ireland 3-1 to get their bid up and running. European champions Spain were in unstoppable form in the central Turkish city of Konya, claiming their second biggest-ever away win in World Cup qualifying as Arsenal midfielder Merino scored his first professional hat-trick. Barcelona playmaker Pedri Gonzalez opened the scoring inside six minutes and later completed the scoring, with Ferran Torres netting the visitors’ other goal. The quality of Merino’s strikes was remarkable, with his
RSS