Taiwan’s Lee Yang and Wang Chi-Lin defended their Olympic badminton men’s doubles title on Sunday, emerging victorious in a gripping final against China’s Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang at the Porte de La Chapelle arena in Paris. The Taiwanese pair, who clinched gold in Tokyo and share a childhood friendship, collapsed to the floor in a euphoric display after winning an emotionally charged match that witnessed spectators chanting “Taiwan”. Despite competing as Chinese Taipei at the Olympics, Lee threw his racket in the air as the pair received a standing ovation from the enthusiastic Taiwanese supporters. They also prevented China from securing their third badminton gold at the Paris Games, following the country’s triumphs in mixed and women’s doubles earlier this week.
Lee and Wang dominated the Chinese top seeds in the first game, closing it out with ease. Their sharp play continued in the second game, but Liang and Wang fought back, tying the match at one game apiece. The tension escalated in a tightly contested third game, with the Taiwanese team inching ahead towards the end. They missed their first match point but capitalized on their second, falling to the ground in a chorus of joyous screams.
Malaysia’s Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik secured the bronze medal after overcoming Kim Astrup and Anders Rasmussen of Denmark in a grueling battle that spanned over an hour, destroyed 34 shuttlecocks, and was punctuated by hypnotic rallies.
