BADMINTON/Taiwan bags men's doubles bronze at Badminton Asia Championships in China

Taipei, April 13 (CNA) Taiwanese pair Lee Jhe-huei (李哲輝) and Yang Po-hsuan (楊博軒) on Saturday took home the men's doubles bronze medals at the Badminton Asia Championships 2024 in Ningbo, China.

The shuttlers were bested at the semifinals by their tournament host-country opponents Liang Wei Keng (梁偉鏗) and Wang Chang (王昶), who has advanced to face off against Malaysia's Goh Sze Fei (吳世飛) and Nur Izzudin at the finals on Sunday.

The Chinese pair outplayed the Taiwanese duo in a two-game match in which they won by the same score 17-21 in both games.

Lee and Yang got off to a slow start in the beginning of the first game.

Although the Taiwanese duo was able to eventually tie the first game 14-14, Liang and Wang went on to brisk past them 17-21 to conclude the first game.

In the second game, Taiwan's shuttlers continued to trail behind the host-country competitors, at one point falling behind with a 6-13 disadvantage.

Although a strategy change gave Lee and Yang enough edge to once again tie the game 14-14, Liang and Wang nonetheless went on to close out the match with the same score as the first game.

The Saturday match was the two pairs' fourth encounter, with the Taiwanese duo winning only once.

The Badminton Asia Championships in China is also the last tournament for shuttlers to rake in points to win a chance to compete in the upcoming 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

Although it has been confirmed that the Taiwanese pair has not qualified for the next Olympics, the year has thus far been kind to the world No. 14 duo.

Since March, Lee and Yang had performed very well, winning the men's doubles title at the 2024 German Open in March, followed by a silver medal win at the 2024 French Open the same month.

Lee and Yang's Saturday medal also gave Taiwan its second consecutive bronze at the Badminton Asia Championships after Taiwan's Olympic gold medalists Lee Yang (李洋) and Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) took home the same accolade for the 2023 edition of the tournament held in Dubai.