Lee Yang/Wang Chi-Lin’s Final Dance Ends in Upset Loss

dd yy September 6, 2024 3 0

The Olympic double gold medal pair, Lee Yang and Wang Chi-Lin were knocked out of the Taipei Open Super 300 men’s doubles round of 16 today, losing 21-15, 15-21, 20-22 to their junior teammates Yang Po-Han and Liu Kuang Heng, thus missing the opportunity to close Lee Yang’s “final dance” with a championship victory.

The best result for the Li-Wang duo at the Chinese Taipei Open had been a runner-up finish in the past. As Lee Yang plans to retire after this year’s tournament, the pair reunited for this special occasion. However, they found themselves in a tough battle against the world-ranked 88th “Cold Wave Duo.” After the match, a frustrated Wang Chi-Lin said, “I played poorly, very badly. I really appreciate his tolerance on the court, but today I just didn’t perform well at all.”

Lee Yang came to Wang’s defense, saying, “Chi-Lin has always been a great friend and partner. He really wanted to give me a perfect ending here at the Chinese Taipei Open, so he put a lot of pressure on himself, which made it hard for him today. But regardless, we fought for every shot out there.”