
Paris: Following their victory over World No. 6 Takuro Hoki/Yugo Kobayashi of Japan, winning 21-16, 21-10 in the Group D opening match on Saturday, the World No. 11 defending champions Lee Yang/Wang Chi-Lin delivered another impressive performance on Sunday. They defeated World No. 2 Kim Astrup/Anders Skaarup Rasmussen of Denmark 21-15, 19-21, 21-15, securing their second win in the men’s doubles “group of death.”
After their triumph at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics (held in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic), Lee/Wang faced a slump and hadn’t won a tournament until the 2023 Japan Open, where they beat Takuro Hoki/Yugo Kobayashi 21–19, 21–13 in the final.
In the Paris Olympics, Lee/Wang have seemingly adopted a new playing style, catching their opponents off guard. After Saturday’s match, Takuro Hoki noted that Lee Yang/Wang Chi-lin played differently than usual, focusing more on pressing forward together, which created pressure.
Yugo Kobayashi admitted feeling timid throughout the match, praising the aggressive and precise play of Lee/Wang, which led to few errors on their part. Kobayashi’s cautious approach to avoid mistakes put them at a disadvantage, particularly in prolonged rallies, making the match challenging.
With the win against Kim Astrup/Anders Skaarup Rasmussen, Lee/Wang are in a strong position to top Group D, assuming they can handle Vinson Chiu/Joshua Yuan of the USA and potentially World No. 9 Liu Yuchen/Ou Xuanyi. However, a loss to Liu/Ou and other results could lead to a points calculation to determine the group champions and runners-up.
In men’s singles, World No. 11 Taiwanese player Chou Tien Chen started strongly, defeating Mexican player Luis Ramón Garrido with scores of 21-17, 21-13.
Chou, at 34, is competing in his third Olympics. He previously reached the quarterfinals in both Rio and Tokyo, losing to Malaysian star Lee Chong Wei and China’s Chen Long, respectively. This time, Chou aims to surpass his past achievements. In addition to Garrido, his group stage opponent includes Hong Kong’s Lee Cheuk Yiu.
Chou’s main competition for advancing from the group stage is expected to be Lee Cheuk Yiu, ranked 18th in the world. They will face off on the 31st, with Chou having won their last two encounters and leading the head-to-head 8-4, making him the favorite to advance.