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| ▲ In this EPA photo, Kim So-yeong (L) and Kong Hee-yong of South Korea are in action against Mayu Matsumoto and Wakana Nagahara of Japan in the quarterfinals of the women's doubles badminton event at the Tokyo Olympics at Musashino Forest Sport Plaza in Tokyo on July 29, 2021. (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ In this AFP photo, Shin Seung-chan (L) and Lee So-hee of South Korea are in action against Cheryl Seinen and Selena Piek of the Netherlands in the quarterfinals of the women's doubles badminton event at the Tokyo Olympics at Musashino Forest Sport Plaza in Tokyo on July 29, 2021. (Yonhap) |
(Olympics) S Korea-badminton medal
(Olympics) S. Korea puts 2 pairs in badminton women's doubles semis, secures at least bronze
TOKYO, July 29 (Yonhap) -- South Korea has secured at least a bronze medal in the women's doubles badminton event at the Tokyo Olympics, after two pairs advanced to the semifinals on the opposite sides of the bracket on Thursday.
Kim So-yeong and Kong Hee-yong defeated Mayu Matsumoto and Wakana Nagahara of Japan 2-1 (21-14, 14-21, 28-26) in the quarterfinals at Musashino Forest Sport Plaza. Hours later, Lee So-hee and Shin Seung-chan beat Selena Piek and Cheryl Seinen of the Netherlands 2-0 (21-8, 21-17) in the quarters as well.
Lee and Shin will face the Indonesian tandem of Greysia Polii and Aprlyani Rahayu in the semifinals Saturday. Kim and Kong will face the winner of the last quarterfinals match between Yuki Fukushima and Sayaka Hirota of Japan and Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan of China.
Because the two Korean teams are on different sides of the bracket, they can only meet in the gold medal match or the bronze medal match.
Kim and Kong, ranked fifth in the world, battled the second-ranked Japanese pair hard for three games.
In the first game, the South Koreans led by as much as 11-2. Matsumoto and Nagahara cut it to 15-10 at one point but couldn't overcome the deficit.
The Japanese returned the favor in the second game, scoring the first four points en route to a 21-14 win.
Kim and Kong trailed for most of the third game, and the Japanese held the match point at 20-19.
The South Koreans forced deuce, and at 26-26, they scored the final two points to close out the win.
Lee and Shin had a much easier time in their quarters. They won the first game 21-8 in just 16 minutes. They had a 16-8 lead in the second game, and held off the Dutch team for a 41-minute victory.
South Korea hasn't won gold in the women's doubles since Chung So-young and Hwang Hye-young won the inaugural title in 1992.
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