PETALING JAYA: Taiwan’s defending men’s doubles champions Lee Yang-Wang Chi-lin face a tough battle to survive the group stages in the Paris Olympics after landing in the ‘’group of death’’.
World No. 11 Lee Yang-Chi-lin have struggled to reach similar heights since capturing a historic gold for their country in the 2021 Tokyo Games and could not have asked for a tougher draw after they were placed in Group D along with Denmark’s world No. 2 Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen, Japan’s 2021 world champions Takuro Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi, China’s world No. 9 Liu Yuchen-Ou Xuanyi and United States pair Vinson Chiu-Joshua Yuan.
Only the top two pairs in the group can progress to the quarter-finals.
While the American pair, who are ranked 47th in the world, are the underdogs in the group and are not expected to win any of their matches, the real battle will be between the other four pairs.
Based on form, Lee Yang-Chi-lin face an uphill battle to avoid early elimination.
The Taiwanese pair suffered early round defeats six times out of their nine tournaments this year and only went as far as the quarter-finals thrice.
Lee Yang-Chi-lin were overshadowed by their teammates Lee Jhe-huei-Yang Po-hsuan and only narrowly qualified for the Olympics ahead of the latter.
The reigning Olympic gold medallists’ best achievement this year came in the Thomas Cup Finals in May along with Jhe-huei-Po-hsuan when they helped Taiwan to a historic bronze.
Lee Yang-Chi-lin need to reproduce the form they showed in the team meet, especially in the last eight where they beat Astrup-Rasmussen to enable their team to come out on top 3-1 over the Danes.
In individual tournaments, the Taiwanese pair’s best showing since their gold medal feat came in the Japan Open last year when they stunned home favourites Hoki-Kobayashi to lift the title.
Despite showing glimpses of their capabilities, Lee Yang-Chi-lin have not managed to remain consistent and will be tested severely in Paris.
Malaysian Masters champions Astrup-Rasmussen are the most in-form pair in the group and will be the favourites to make it to the last eight, leaving Hoki-Kobayashi, Yuchen-Xuanyi and Lee Yang-Chi-lin to battle it out for the remaining slot.
Whatever the outcome, it is set to be a fantastic early battle for the fans.
The badminton competition in the Olympics is set to be held from July 27-Aug 5 at the Adidas Arena in Porte de la Chapelle.
