Women's doubles duo take silver at World Badminton Championships

More

Published: 20 Dec. 2021, 16:37

Women's doubles duo take silver at World Badminton Championships

Lee So-hee. left, and Shin Seung-chan in action during the women's doubles final match against Chen Qing Chen and Jia Yi Fan of China at the BWF Badminton World Championships in Huelva, Spain on Sunday. [EPA/YONHAP]

Lee So-hee and Shin Seung-chan took silver in the women's doubles at the TotalEnergies BWF World Badminton Championships 2021 on Sunday in Huelva, Spain, a day after Kim So-yeong and Kong Hee-yong took bronze in the same event.

Lee and Shin lost to the Chinese pair Chen Qing Chen and Jia Yi Fan in two sets — 21-16, 21-17 — on Sunday, missing out on a chance to take gold. The last time Korea won the women’s doubles medal at the event was Gil Young-ah and Jang Hye-ock in 1995.

En route to the final, Lee and Shin defeated Japan, Taiwan and Thailand then beat countrywomen Kim and Kong on Saturday in the semifinals in two sets, 21-18 and 21-17, despite being a lower-ranked pair. Kim and Kong are world No. 2 while Lee and Shin are No. 4.

Silver medalists Lee So-hee, left. and Shin Seung-chan pose on the podium after the women's doubles final badminton match of the BWF World Championships in Huelva, Spain on Sunday. [AFP/YONHAP]

This is not the first time Lee and Shin have faced Kim and Kong in an all-Korean match on the international stage. At the Tokyo Olympics, Kim and Kong took home bronze in the badminton women's doubles event, beating Lee and Shin 2-0, which eventually marked Korea's only medal in badminton at this year's Games.

Badminton used to be one of Korea's better Summer Olympic sports in the 1990s and 2000s. From Barcelona 1992 to Beijing 2008, Korea took home six gold, seven silver and five bronze medals. Korea hasn't struck gold in the event since then, however, with Lee Yong-dae and Lee Hyo-jung last reaching the top of the podium in 2008.

An Se-young, who on Dec. 6 won the women’s singles gold medal at the BWF World Tour Finals in Nusa Dua, Indonesia to mark her third consecutive international gold medal after winning the 2021 Indonesia Masters on Nov. 21 and the SimInvest Indonesia Open 2021 on Nov. 28, missed out on a medal this time, dropping the quarterfinal against Akane Yamaguchi of Japan.

BY YUN SO-HYANG [yun.sohyang@joongang.co.kr]