Jayce
On the second day of Group Play, the U.S. team competed in all events except for Women’s Singles. Sunday, July 28, featured the continuation of Mixed Doubles, Women’s Doubles, Men’s Doubles, and the commencement of Men’s Singles, where Howard Shu made his return to the Olympic stage after first qualifying for Rio 2016.
In Mixed Doubles, Vinson Chiu and Jennie Gai continued their campaign in Group D against Malaysia’s Chen Jie Tang and Toh Ee Wei in the last match of the morning session. They delivered an encouraging performance in the first game, eventually succumbing 15-21. The U.S. pair gained momentum early in the second game, leading several exciting rallies, much to the delight of the numerous U.S. fans in attendance. The Malaysians closed the gap towards the end of the game, tying it at 20-20. Despite the heroic efforts of Chiu and Gai through several intense rallies, including a prolonged rally to even the score at 21-21, the Malaysians prevailed with a 22-24 victory.
“I’m proud we were able to hang in there until the end; it’s just unfortunate we weren’t able to pull through,” Gai remarked after the match. “I heard some ‘USA’ cheers, which I think helped me a lot because normally we don’t get much support. So, having people cheering for us in the crowd is a really amazing experience.”
In Men’s Singles, Howard Shu made his return to the Olympic stage for the first time since Rio 2016. Shu battled hard in the first game against Indonesia’s No. 9 seed Anthony Ginting, ultimately losing 14-21. In the second game, Shu was defeated 8-21.
At the end of the match, Shu stated, “I feel good. The first set felt a little better than the second set. I’ve been watching a bit more of his matches. I’ve never played him before, so a lot of the front-court deception were things I hadn’t seen. It was a bit tough to get used to, but I managed it well in the first set. In the second set, when the drift changed on my side of the court, I struggled to adapt.”
In Women’s Doubles, twins Annie Xu and Kerry Xu faced Hong Kong China’s Yeung Nga Ting and Yeung Pui Lam in Group B. The twins led in the first game, but a fierce comeback by the Hong Kong China pair resulted in a 22-24 loss. In the second game, the twins battled back from behind to take the lead and won 21-17, forcing a third game. However, the U.S. pair eventually fell to Hong Kong China 12-21 in the third game.
In Men’s Doubles, Vinson Chiu and Joshua Yuan continued their Group Play in Group D against China’s Liu Yu Chen and Ou Xuan Yi. Chiu and Yuan kept the match close going into the interval of the first game but ultimately lost 13-21 to the Chinese pair. In the second game, the Americans fought hard to keep the score close early on. As the other matches concluded and attention turned to their match, Chiu and Yuan delivered some impressive rallies, much to the delight of the U.S. crowd, although they would lose 13-21 in the second game.
