History was created when unseeded Chinese Taipei men’s doubles pair Lee Yang/Wang Chi-Lin won the men’s doubles gold medal, retaining the title they won in Tokyo which made them the first men’s pair who succeeded in winning a back-to-back Olympic gold medal.
It was a tight and exhilarating finale as little separated the Chinese Taipei pair and their rivals, top seed and world No.1 Liang Wei Keng/Wang Chang who were seeking to add gold No.3 to China.
Lee/Wang persevered in a three-game intense battle with a 21-17, 18-21, 21-19 win over the Chinese pair, earning them the gold medal after a marathon 72-minute closely-fought battle.
For Lee /Wang, the feat in Paris was made even more memorable as they had gone through a bad patch since winning their Olympic gold three years ago, with only one title, the Japan Open 2023 to show since the Tokyo Games.
The match started off with both pairs fighting point for point but the Chinese pair, upon taking an 11-9 lead at the interval, pulled away to 19-16 before wrapping the game 21-16 in just 20 minutes.
Wei Keng/Wang Chang got back into contention in the second game, winning 21-18 to force a decider, which was also fiercely fought with both pairs exchanging attack after attack and the game could go either way.
However, Lee/Wang held their nerves and kept their composure in the final stages of the match, before clinching the 21-19 win which earned them the hour as the only men’s doubles who succeeded in defending their Olympic title and a second consecutive Olympic gold.
In the fight for the bronze medal, Malaysian pair Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik defended their Tokyo Games bronze medal achievement after prevailing over Denmark’s Kim Astrup/Anders Skaarup Rasmussen to ensure an all-Asian winner on the podium.
Chia/Soh came back from a game down, playing an aggressive game to beat the fourth-seed Danish pair 16-21, 22-20, 21-19 in a match which lasted 70 minutes.
The Olympic badminton competition ends tomorrow (Sunday, Aug 5) with the men’s singles and women’s singles final matches scheduled to start at 10.55 am Paris time.
The women’s singles final pits top seed An Se Young of Korea and He Bing Jiao of China while reigning Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen, aiming to win a back-to-back gold medal, takes on Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn.
