BADMINTON/Taiwanese Olympian and new partner lose in Korea Open semifinals

Taipei, Aug. 31 (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 Saturday lost to South Korean duo Kang Min-hyuk and Seo Seung-jae in the semifinals of the Korea Open men's doubles.

The match between the Taiwanese shuttlers and the tournament's top seeded duo at Mokpo Indoor Stadium lasted an hour and eight minutes, resulting in a loss for Wang and Chiu 27-25, 23-25, 11-21.

Wang, who won Olympic badminton gold in Paris on Aug. 4 with his Tokyo Olympic gold partner Lee Yang (李洋), started well with his new partner Chiu by establishing a 7-1 lead in the first game of the match on Saturday.

However, their South Korean opponents rallied and Wang and Chiu faced five game points before digging deep and winning the first game 27-25.

In the second game and despite coming back from seven points down at one point, Wang and Chiu narrowly failed to secure a straight games victory.

Despite drawing level at 20-20 and then 23-23, Wang and Chiu were unable to win the two points needed for victory, allowing Kang and Seo to win the game 25-23 and draw level at one game all.

In the third game the Taiwan duo lost their focus and the Korean pairing ran away with the game 21-11.

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

Making it to the semifinals was the best the new duo have achieved in their relatively young partnership.

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.