Kuala Lumpur: The 2024 BWF World Tour Finals will kick off in Hangzhou on December 11, following the group draw ceremony held on Friday. Taiwan’s two-time Olympic men’s doubles pair Lee Yang and Wang Chi-Lin will stage their final international tournament performance as a pair in Hangzhou. In a twist of fate, they were drawn into the same group as their fellow Taiwanese teammates, Lee Jhe-Huei and Yang Po-Hsuan.
Lee Yang and Wang Chi-Lin’s first tournament together as a pair was the 2019 Taiwan National Ranking Championships, where they faced off against Lee Jhe-Huei and Yang Po-Hsuan in the final, with their opponents taking the victory. Now, in their last international tournament together, they will meet again on the court.
The World Tour Finals features eight players or pairs in each category, divided into two groups, A and B. The top two performers in each group will advance to the semifinals.
Lee Yang and Wang Chi-Lin will face not only their Taiwanese teammates Lee Jhe-Huei and Yang Po-Hsuan in Group A but also Denmark’s top seeds Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen, as well as Malaysia’s Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin.
Reflecting on the draw, Lee Yang expressed his sense of inevitability. “I had a feeling we’d be in the same group as Jhe-Huei and Po-Hsuan. It’s destiny. My first match with Chi-Lin was against Jhe-Huei and Po-Hsuan, and now our final match will also be against him,” he said with a smile.
Lee Yang/Wang Chi-Lin secured their spot at the World Tour Finals thanks to their gold medal victory at the Paris Olympics. The pair had previously won the World Tour Finals title in 2020.
This year’s Finals hold special significance for Lee Yang, as it marks his retirement from international badminton. The tournament will be his and Wang Chi-Lin’s last competition together as a pair.
The men’s doubles Group B draw consists of pairs below:
He Jiting/Ren Xiangyu of China, Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Rian Ardianto of Indonesia, Sabar Karyaman Gutama/Muhammad Reza Pahlevi Isfahani of Indonesia, and Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik of Malaysia.
