PARIS, July 28 (Xinhua) -- China's shuttlers maintained an unbeaten streak in all badminton group matches at the 2024 Olympic Games on Sunday.
The top-seeded women's doubles team of Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan triumphed over Indonesia's Apriyani Rahayu and Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti 21-12, 24-22. This victory at the Porte de La Chapelle Arena marked a measure of revenge for Chen and Jia, who had been defeated by Rahayu and her former partner, Greysia Polii, in the Tokyo Olympic final in 2021.
Chen celebrated the victory by kneeling and shouting in jubilation. "We were happy to be in a group with them so that we were guaranteed a chance to play against them," Jia commented, expressing her satisfaction at being able to make up for their previous defeat.
In the men's doubles, China's top seeds Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang also delivered a compelling performance, securing a victory over Britain's Ben Lane and Sean Vendy in three sets, 21-18, 13-21, 21-14. The British pair pushed the match to a decider, showcasing resilience in the second set.
In another gripping encounter, Liu Shengshu and Tan Ning of China overcame Bulgarian sisters Gabriela and Stefani Stoeva in three sets, 19-21, 21-10, 21-16.
The singles competition also saw top seeds making strong starts. In the men's singles, Kodai Naraoka of Japan, Lee Zii Jia of Malaysia, Li Shifeng of China and Denmark's Anders Antonsen all emerged victorious in their opening matches.
China's Chen Yufei, the second-seeded player in women's singles and gold medalist at the Tokyo Olympics, battled to a 21-14, 17-21, 21-9 win over Germany's Yvonne Li.
Elsewhere, women's singles leading seeds An Se-young of South Korea, Pusarla V. Sindhu of India, and Spain's Carolina Marin all cruised to victories in straight sets, setting the stage for what promises to be an exciting tournament ahead.
