China bag two golds in badminton doubles at Asian Games

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The Chinese badminton team added women's and mixed doubles gold medals to their tally following the sport's penultimate day's action at the 18th Asian Games on Monday.

Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan triumphed over Misaki Matsutomo and Ayaka Takahashi of Japan in straight sets in women's doubles final, while top-seeded Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong made their winning path much easier in mixed doubles.

Chen and Jia deserved the glory well, as they had eliminated world No. 1 pair Yuki Fukushima and Sayaka Hirota on Sunday, before overcoming Olympic gold medalists Matsutomo and Takahashi 22-20, 22-20 in an hour.

Chen and Jia built an 11-10 lead at the changeover through a slew of errors by their opponents, while finding themselves troubled at 20-17 down late in the opening game. However, the resilient Chinese pair savored five points in a row to move through the game 22-20.

Chen/Jia built a 4-0 lead into the second game, before seeing their advantage erased by four straight points from Matsutomo and Takahashi.

The Chinese pair still took the upper hand and smashed precisely for their points. Back-and-forth competition continued, while Chen and Jia managed to lead 11-10 at the interval.

At 14-17 down, Chen and Jia made a strong comeback after winning five straight points and secured a 22-20 win on Chen's powerful smash.

In mixed doubles final against Tang Chun Man and Tse Ying Suet of Hong Kong, China, Zheng and Huang withstood little resistance en route to a 21-8, 21-15 victory in half an hour.

The Chinese pair controlled the rhythm throughout the match and savored their win in a comfortable manner.

Earlier on Monday, Chinese men's doubles pair Li Junhui/Liu Yuchen lost to home favorites Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto in full sets.

Zheng Siwei (L) and Huang Yaqiong bite their gold medals at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta on August 27. /VCG Photo

The world champions failed to restrain the Indonesian pair's attack in the first game. After trailing 6-11 at the changeover, they could not come back into contention, with at least three points separating both sides. Alfian and Ardianto took the initiative at 21-14.

The Chinese duo built a 7-4 lead into the second game, before their opponents tied at 8-all. After a mid-game tussle continued to 19-all, Li and Liu attacked resolutely to snatch two points in a row and force a decider at 21-19.

However, following a 4-4 draw early in the decider, the Li/Liu duo could not hold themselves on before letting the duel slide away 21-13.

Despite the loss, Li and Liu still secured men's first doubles medal at Asiad for China in more than a decade, as the drought dated back to the Busan Games in 2002.

Alfian and Ardianto will face their fellow Indonesian Marcus Fernaldi Gideon/Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo in Tuesday's final. The world No. 1 pair eliminated Lee Jhehuei and Lee Yang of Chinese Taipei, 21-15, 20-22, 21-12.

Men's singles final will feature hometown talent Jonatan Christie and Chou Tienchen of Chinese Taipei. Women's singles crown will be up for grabs between Tai Tzuying of Chinese Taipei and Indian top-ranked shuttler Pusarla V. Sindhu.

China, who failed to make into semifinals in singles events, tallied three golds, one silver and two bronzes at the Jakarta Asiad.

Source(s): Xinhua News Agency