BADMINTON/Taiwanese Olympian reaches Korea Open quarterfinals with new partner

Taipei, Aug. 29 (CNA) Taiwanese Olympic badminton men's doubles gold medalist Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) and his new partner Chiu Hsiang-chieh (邱相榤) on Thursday advanced to the Badminton Korea Open men's doubles quarterfinals after defeating fellow Taiwanese shuttlers Lee Jhe-huei (李哲輝) and Yang Po-hsuan (楊博軒).

The round-of-16 match between the four Taiwanese players at Mokpo Indoor Stadium lasted 44 minutes, resulting in a hard fought victory for Wang and Chiu 21-17, 11-21, 21-19.

Chiu and Wang, who won Olympic badminton gold in Paris on Aug. 4 with his Tokyo Olympic gold partner Lee Yang (李洋), started well by establishing an early 9-4 lead in the first game of the match on Thursday.

However, the duo then lost 11 of the next 15 points, as Lee and Yang took a 13-15 lead, only for Wang and Chiu to regroup and win the next four points in a row, before going on to take the first game 21-17.

Despite the early setback, Lee and Yang remained confident and came back strongly in the second game which they ran away with 21-11 to take the match to a third and final game.

The final game was nip and tuck between the Taiwanese pairings all the way to the end, with neither side managing a lead of more than two points.

With the game tied at 19-19, Wang and Chiu dug deep and were able to increase the pace one last time, winning two consecutive points to secure victory in the last game 21-19 and advance to the quarterfinals.

Speaking with CNA, Wang said he and Chiu were more aggressive in the first game, adding that they lost the second game because they played more passively.

The duo was able to win the match after taking better advantage of their serving opportunities, Wang said, adding that they made fewer mistake than their fellow Taiwanese players on top of playing more actively.

The match was the second time Wang has teamed up with Chiu, after losing in the round-of-16 at the 2024 Japan Open last week.

Chiu is Wang's new partner after the latter's two-time Olympian gold medal partner Lee Yang announced plans to retire after the badminton Taipei Open next month.