Tokyo, Japan, July 31, 2021: In just 34 minutes, Lee Yang and Wang Chi-Lin converted dream into reality for Chinese Taipei, ascending the summit of men’s doubles at Musashino Forest Plaza on Saturday.
The victory gave Chinese Taipei their first Olympic gold medal in badminton, joining the sport’s superpowers Korea, Indonesia and China on the roll of honour as Olympic champions.
The devastating power and astute skills of world No.3 duo Lee and Wang tilted the balance their way 2-0 (21-18, 21-12) in the battle of heavy-hitters against 2018 world champions Li Junhui and Liu Yuchen of China.
The Olympic gold is another major conquest for Lee and Wang, who had in January won three titles in successive weeks, including the HSBC BWF World Tour Finals 2020, in Bangkok.
The opening game was close, but once the Chinese Taipei duo inched ahead at 17-14, the momentum swung their way. The second game was a washout for the Chinese, who were unable to get any leeway in the exchanges.
“This is our dream together, to step on to the podium at the Olympics,” said Wang. “We encourage each other, we try to cheer each other up. This will be a very touching memory for the future.”
Liu acknowledged that the Chinese duo lost their way in the face of relentless attack by their opponents.
“We started well but, from the middle of the match, we missed some opportunities. Our opponents were excellent, they forced us to make errors.
“To come to this stage was a difficult journey; we put in a lot of effort during the pandemic. Winning silver gives us regrets but we will not stop.”
Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik captured bronze for Malaysia after beating world champions Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan of Indonesia 2-1 (17-21, 21-17, 21-14) in the playoff. It was Malaysia’s first medal of Tokyo 2020.
