Jayce
Three years ago, at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Mads Frokjaer and Sara Tigsen made headlines by unexpectedly defeating the fourth seeds Lee Shao-he and Shin Seung-chan in the group stage. Today, Lee Shao-he and her current partner, Bai He-na (one of the favorites to win), faced a similar déjà vu at the 2024 Paris Olympics, as they fell to the Danish pair.
The Korean duo seemed to be in control after winning the second game easily, but they were unexpectedly defeated in the third game with scores of 21-18, 9-21, 21-14. Li Chongwei and Bai Yongzhe, who had won three titles this season and were considered gold medal favorites, will now have to focus on their remaining group stage matches.
Frokjaer (right) and Tigsen celebrate.
“We had a few weeks of good practice, and I think we understood some things about them. We knew them, but we didn’t trust them enough; I think we did that today, which gave us a lot of confidence and initiative in the match,” Frokjaer said.
“The audience gave us a lot of positive energy. It helped me today, but sometimes it didn’t. We knew our families would do their best to support us, and we could hear their voices, which gave us a lot of energy on the court and made us more active.”
Tigsen noted that the key to the third game was to regain momentum.
“They started to push in the second game but made a lot of mistakes. Our rhythm wasn’t as fast as in the first game. In the third game, we had to push again. Trusting our performance on the court, especially in serving, was crucial.”
Despite their victory, the Danish pair remains cautious about their upcoming matches against fellow competitors Kittitara Kulphong/Rawinda Prajongsan and Anne Chen/Margot Lambert.
Li/Wang Win Easily
Among the day’s most anticipated matches was the reigning champions Li Yang/Wang Qilin against the 2021 World Champions, Takuro Hoki/Yugo Kobayashi.
The match was expected to go down to the wire, but Li Chongwei/Wang Zhelin wrapped it up in just 34 minutes with scores of 21-16, 21-10. This victory provides them with a much more positive start to their Olympic journey compared to their opening match loss in the Tokyo Olympics.
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