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.
Shin Seung Chan (Korean: 신승찬; December 6, 1994) is a South Korean female badminton player.
In 2011, she participated in the World Junior Badminton Championships in Taoyuan County, winning the women’s doubles event (together with Lee Sau-hee) and the second place in the mixed team.
In July 2013, Shin represented South Korea at the World University Games in Kazan, Russia, winning the gold medal in the mixed team and the bronze medal in the women’s doubles.
In November 2014, Shin won his first International Grand Prix title in Women’s Doubles after his opponent withdrew in the Women’s Doubles final, and in Mixed Doubles after his opponent withdrew in the Mixed Doubles final.
In October 2015, Shin Seung-chan played with Jeong Kyung-yin in the Denmark Badminton Premier Superseries, and won his first Premier Superseries women’s doubles title in his badminton career when his opponent chose to withdraw in the women’s doubles.
In August 2016, Shin Sang-chan represented South Korea in the women’s doubles event at the Olympic Games badminton tournament in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and won an Olympic women’s doubles bronze medal by edging out the tournament’s No. 2 seed, Tang Yuanzhi/Yu Yang of China, 2-0 (21-8, 21-17) in the bronze medal match.
In March 2017, Shin Sung-chan and Jeong Kyung-yin played in the All England Badminton Premier Super Tournament and were defeated 0-2 (16-21, 13-21) in the Women’s Doubles Quasi-Final against the tournament’s No. 2 seed and Danish powerhouse, Kristina Petersen/Kamilla Rütter Juhl. In October of the same year, she and Li Shaoxi played in Denmark’s premier badminton super tournament and won the women’s doubles final, defeating the tournament’s No. 6 seed and Japanese powerhouse Shiho Tanaka/Koharu Yonemoto 2-0 (21-13, 21-16).
In July 2021, she and Li Shaoxi competed in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic badminton women’s doubles tournament, advancing to the quarterfinals by finishing first in Group C. She defeated the Dutch pair of Selena Pik/Cheryl Selning 2-0 (21-8, 21-17) in the quarterfinals to advance to the quarterfinals, and then fell to the Indonesian duo of Gracia Poli/Apriliani 0-2 (19-21, 17-21) in the quarterfinals -Rahayu, and then fell to teammates Kim Cho Yeong/Kong Hee Yong in the bronze medal match to finish fourth, 0-2 (10-21, 17-21).
World Ranking – Women’s Doubles 27, Week 30, 2024
Olympic Points – Women’s Doubles 25, 47300 points
Finals Ranking – Women’s Doubles 29, 5820 points
Equipment Used
ARCSABER 11 PRO; AEROBITE; JETSPEED S 12 F; NANOFLARE 700; SHB65Z2MEX; SHB65Z3 new color; JETSPEED S 11; NANOFLARE 700 new colors; BRAVE SWORD 12 N; NANORAY 900
Major Achievements
2024 Malaysia Badminton Masters Women’s Doubles Runner-up
2024 Thailand Badminton Masters Women’s Doubles Final Four
2023 Chinese Taipei Badminton Open Women’s Doubles Champion
2023 Northern Mariana Islands Open Mixed Doubles Champion
