Paris: The women’s doubles World No. 1 Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan, have won their first Olympic gold medal.
In the 2024 Paris Olympics women’s doubles badminton final, it was an all-Chinese battle between Chen Qingchen/Jia Yifan and World No. 3 Liu Sheng Shu/Tan Ning. Chen/Jia needed 58 minutes to defeat Liu Xuanxuan and Xia Yuting with scores of 22-20 and 21-15.
Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan reached the final in the previous Tokyo Olympics but lost to the Indonesian pair Greysia Polii/Apriyani Rahayu, earning a silver medal. This time, they finally clinched their first Olympic gold medal.
This marks China’s return to the top of the podium in women’s doubles badminton, a feat they last achieved at the 2012 London Olympics, ending a 12-year gap.
Since badminton became an official Olympic sport at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, China had won the women’s doubles gold from the 1996 Atlanta Olympics to the 2012 London Olympics. However, Japan and Indonesia claimed the gold in the 2016 Rio Olympics and 2020 Tokyo Olympics, respectively.
This time, China swept both the gold and silver medals, marking the third time in Olympic history they have claimed both top spots in women’s doubles, after 2000 and 2004.
In the women’s doubles bronze medal match, Malaysia’s World No. 13 pair Pearly Tan/Thinaah Muralitharan accepted their defeat in the bronze medal match.
Tan/Muralitharan lost 11-21, 11-21 to Japan’s World No. 4 Chiharu Shida/Nami Matsuyama, finishing fourth in their Olympic journey.
Pearly Tan tearfully said after the match, “We are very sad and frustrated. No matter how we adjusted today, nothing worked. The opponents played exceptionally well and were better prepared. They put us under immense pressure, and we had no answer.”
“Nonetheless, we accept this result. We need to face upcoming matches with a positive mindset,” added Tan.
“Before the Olympics, we were not in good form. We didn’t expect to play until the last day of the competition. We are proud of our performance and happy we fought until the end,” continued Tan.
“We desperately wanted to stand on the podium and hoped to end our Olympic journey that way. However, the opponents excelled in every aspect and handled the pressure better than us. We were a bit too anxious in our play,” Muralitharan told reporters after the match.
“It is still hard to digest, but we are satisfied to have reached the semifinals. For now, we need to rest well,” concluded Muralitharan.
