TOKYO, July 31 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Taipei's world No. 3 Lee Yang/Wang Chi-Lin beat China's third seeds Li Junhui/Liu Yuchen 2-0 in badminton men's doubles final to win the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics Saturday.
Lee and Wang were trailing 10-6 before they caught up to lead a 21-18 win. Li/Liu, unable to bounce back, were overwhelmed by their opponents and lost the second set 21-12 to settle for their first Olympic silver.
Lee/Wang had knocked out the event's top seeds Marcus Fernaldi/Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo from Indonesia 2-1 in group stage and ousted Indonesia's second seeds Mohammad Ahsan/Hendra Setiawan 2-0 in only 27 minutes in the semifinals.
The pairing of Lee and Wang started in 2019. Before they reached the Olympic podium, they have claimed several golds in world tournaments, including 2019 Orleans Masters, 2019 India Open and 2020 Thailand Open.
"I think we were off to a good start today, but we didn't seize the opportunity to expand advantage from midway," Li said after the loss. "Our opponents posed a lot of challenges for us, and we made several unnecessary mistakes."
Talking about his Olympic debut, Li said it was a wonderful experience and he absolutely enjoyed the journey. "Of course there are regrets, but I think it is not easy to have come along this far," he added.
"We have been partners for so long and put a lot of effort into preparing for the Olympics. I hope this will not be our final stop and we can still go ahead hand in hand to Paris," Liu said.
Earlier in the day, Malaysia's Aaron Chia/Wooi Yik Soh beat Ahsan/Setiawan 17-21, 21-17, 21-14 to win the bronze. Enditem
