Taipei: Nearly a month after their last collaboration at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Lee Yang and Wang Chi-Lin reunited on Wednesday at the 2024 Taipei Open. They secured a spot in the men’s doubles round of 16 by defeating the French pair Mael Cattoen and Lucas Renoir 21-7, 21-9.
Highlights of Lee Yang/Wang Chi-Lin vs. Mael Cattoen/Lucas Renoir in the first round of the 2024 Taipei Open:
From the Tokyo Olympics to the Paris Olympics, Lee Yang and Wang Chi-Lin have won gold medals, becoming the first men’s doubles pair in Olympic badminton history to successfully defend their title. Lee Yang believes this achievement has already exceeded their expectations, and he is now transitioning to focus on his teaching role at the National Taiwan University of Sport.
After the 2024 Paris Olympics, Wang Chi-Lin partnered with Chiu Hsiang-Chieh for the Japan Open and Korea Open, reaching the semifinals at the Korea Open. Instead of partnering with Chiu at the Taipei Open to work on gaining ranking points, Wang chose to team up with Lee Yang for the Taipei Open to give his old partner a fitting retirement gift. Lee commented, “Playing with Chi-Lin always feels right, and I’m grateful he chose to partner with me for this tournament.”
Wang Chi-Lin sincerely hopes they can go all the way and give Lee one last gift on Sunday, which is to win the Taipei Open in front of the home crowd. After their Paris Olympic gold victory, the duo also qualified for the year-end finals. However, it might be difficult for Lee Yang to maintain his competitive edge as a player by then. Lee Yang hopes fans will come out to watch him play, as this will be his last match in Taiwan as a player, and he and Wang will give their best performance.
