Rio Olympics Day 13: South Korea Wins Bronze Medal in Women's Badminton
On Thursday, the South Korean women's badminton doubles team of Shin Seung Chan and Jung Kyung Eun bagged the bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
According to a report from the Korea Herald, Shin and Jung beat China's Tan Yuanting and Yu Yang by a set score of 2-0 (21-8, 21-17). This is the first and only medal of the South Korean badminton team at the Rio Olympics. The women's duo is the only team who were able to reach the stage for an Olympics medal. Other badminton team that includes two in men's doubles, one in women's doubles, and one in mixed doubles lost their games in the quarterfinals. For men and women's singles division, the athletes were only able to reach the quarters.
South Korea has always been with a medal in the badminton events since the sport was included in the Olympics in 1992.
The South Korean team, which is ranked number 5, lost a match against the Chinese team, who is ranked number 2 in a previous game. In their match for the bronze medal, Shin and Jung started the game aggressively, opening up an 8-3 lead. With a score of 13-8, Jung gave eight consecutive points that ended the first set in just 16 minutes.
The Chinese team tried to prolong the match in the second round but the South Koreans only think about winning the bronze medal. A 3-3 tie suddenly became a 13-8 lead for Shin and Jung. They held the match point at 20-15 and gave up two points until Shin ended the game to place them in third place in the Olympic podium.
South Korea suffered unexpected and heartbreaking losses from its badminton teams in the quarterfinals of the event. The 1st-ranked duo of Lee Yong Dae and Yoo Yeon Seong was not able to play in the semifinals when they were defeated by their Malaysian opponents in the quarterfinals.
