IT was a day to remember as Chen Qing Chen/Jia Yi Fan finally fulfilled their ultimate dreams of becoming Olympic champions. The Chinese world No.1 women’s doubles pair, silver medallist in the last Games in Tokyo, cemented their top standings with a straight-game 22-20, 21-15 victory over compatriots Liu Sheng Shu/Tan Ning in the final match. Chen/Jia, both 27, have now won all major accolades in badminton which include four-time world champions, two-time Asian Games gold medallist and two-time Asian champions as well as the Uber Cup and 19 World Tour titles in their bags. The first game got off to a fiery start but ended with Chen/Jia winning by a slim advantage of 22-20. The second game saw the experienced world champions taking control and combining well before sealing up the match 21-15 in 55 minutes. It was China’s second gold medal in Paris, having clinched the mixed doubles gold through Zheng Si Wei/Huang Ya Qiong yesterday. China will be looking to add more gold tomorrow, banking their hopes of men’s doubles top seed Liang Wei Keng/Wang Chang who will be facing reigning Olympic champions Lee Yang/Wang Chi-Lin in tomorrow’s men’s doubles final. He, Bing Jiao, will be heavily relied upon to deliver China’s third gold in the women’s singles following the defeat of their top star, Chen Yu Fei. He takes on former Olympic champion Carolina Marin of Spain in tomorrow’s women’s singles semifinals. Meanwhile, Japan’s Nami Matsuyama/Chiharu Shida settled for the women’s doubles bronze medal after winning over Malaysia’s Pearly Tan/Thinaah Muralitharan 21-11, 21-11. Match schedule (Sunday, Aug 4) Men’s Doubles Finals:Liang Wei Keng/Wang Chan (CHN) vs Lee Yang/Wang Chi-Lin (TPE) Men’s Doubles Bronze Medal match:Aaron Chia/Soh Woi Yik (MAS) vs Kim Astrup/Anders Skaarup Rasmussen (DEN) Men’s Singles Semifinals: Kunlavut Vitidsarn (THA) vs Lee Zii Jia (MAS)Lakshya Sen (IND) vs Viktor Axelsen (DEN) Women’s Singles Semifinals:An Se Young (KOR) vs Gregoria Mariska Tunjung (INA) Carolina Marin (ESP) vs He Bing Jiao (CHN)
