PARIS, July 29 (Xinhua) — Chinese mixed doubles pairs Zheng Siwei/Huang Yaqiong and Feng Yanzhe/Huang Dongping will face off in the quarterfinals of the Olympic badminton tournament.
The matchup was set during the knockout draw on Monday evening. Top-seeded Zheng/Huang secured their place by winning all three of their group matches, finishing at the top of Group A. Second-seeded duo Feng/Huang advanced by finishing second in Group D.
Apart from the two Chinese pairings, the upper half of the mixed doubles draw features intense competition, including Japan’s fourth-seeded pair Yuta Watanabe and Arisa Higashino, and the world’s sixth-ranked Thai duo, Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai.
In the bottom half, South Korea’s third-seeded Seo Seung-jae and Chae Yu-jung are set to face Hong Kong China’s Tang Chun Man and Tse Ying Suet. The winners will then take on the victors of the match between South Korea’s Kim Won-ho and Jeong Na-eun and Malaysia’s Chen Tang Jie and Toh Ee Wei.
In the men’s doubles, China’s top seeds Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang defeated Malaysia’s Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik with scores of 24-22, 21-14, securing first place in their group. Chia and Soh finished as runners-up.
Another Chinese pair, Liu Yuchen and Ou Xuanyi, were overpowered by Denmark’s second-seeded duo Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen, losing 21-15, 21-13.
Elsewhere, Germany’s men’s doubles player Mark Lamsfuss withdrew from the tournament due to injury. This followed the withdrawal of Guatemala’s men’s singles player and Tokyo Olympic semifinalist Kevin Cordon, also due to injury, leading to the cancellation of matches involving them in their groups, played or yet to be played.
Additionally, Suriname’s Soren Opti withdrew from men’s singles Group A after sustaining an injury during his match against Italy’s Giovanni Toti, who made history in Paris as the first Italian badminton player to compete in the men’s singles at an Olympic Games.