ASIAN GAMES R16 – China and Korea each lose a contender

Teams Korea and China, just days after meeting in the women’s team badminton final, each lost a top contender for women’s doubles gold at the Incheon Asian Games as former world #1 Wang/Yu were shown the exit by Malaysia’s Vivian Hoo and Woon Khe Wei.

Photo: Badmintonphoto (archives)

It was just two days ago that China and Korea met in the women’s team gold medal match to determine who were top ladies at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon.  Now, as of Thursday afternoon, only one pair will remain in the women’s doubles draw from both teams combined.  The reason?  Both former World Champions Wang Xiaoli / Yu Yang and current world #6 Jang Ye Na / Kim So Young suffered upsets in the second round of individual women’s doubles action.

Malaysia’s Vivian Hoo / Woon Khe Wei (pictured) had a dream summer, winning gold at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.  Although they did get a bit of a pinch at the Worlds, now in Incheon, they just seem to be refusing to wake up.  Today, they sent China’s mighty Wang Xiaoli and Yu Yang packing, edging them out 22-20 in third game.  It was their first win over a Chinese pair since they beat two pairs in one week to win the Indonesia Grand Prix Gold three years ago.  Since that event in Indonesia, in fact, the only women’s doubles titles they have won have been at multisport games, first with last year’s SEA Games, then again at the Commonwealth Games in August of this year.

Korea, meanwhile, also lost its highest ranked women’s doubles pair, as Jang/Kim were beaten by Wang Rong / Zhang Zhibo.  The Macau pair first did away with world #15 Shinta Mulia Sari / Yao Lei before taking on the Koreans, both of whom attended university in Incheon.

These two upsets mean that when Jung Kyung Eun / Kim Ha Na and Tian Qing / Zhao Yunlei face off in the quarter-finals on Thursday, it will be to determine which of these badminton powerhouses will still have someone to cheer for during the semis and finals.