Yuta Watanabe and Arisa Higashino won the Paris Games badminton mixed doubles bronze on Friday, beating world No. 2 South Korean pair Seo Seung Jae and Chae Yu Jung in straight games to take their second consecutive Olympic bronze.
A day after being whitewashed by the top-seeded Chinese team in the semifinals at La Chapelle Arena, Watanabe and Higashino regrouped to put on a strong performance against the South Koreans, winning 21-13, 22-20.
Japan's Yuta Watanabe (L) and Arisa Higashino compete against South Korea's Seo Seung Jae and Chae Yu Jung in the badminton mixed doubles bronze medal match at the Paris Olympics on Aug. 2, 2024, at La Chapelle Arena in Paris. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
"We lost yesterday but we talked about having another chance to play together, and enjoying it. It was our second third-place match but we were able to enjoy it until the end," said Watanabe.
"We talked about switching our attention within that day, and although we might only have been trying to put on a brave face, we chatted happily on the bus and that helped us overcome that disappointment," Higashino added.
Japan's Yuta Watanabe (top) and Arisa Higashino compete against South Korea's Seo Seung Jae and Chae Yu Jung in the badminton mixed doubles bronze medal match at the Paris Olympics on Aug. 2, 2024, at La Chapelle Arena in Paris. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
The teams felt each other out early, taking the score to 8-8 in the first, but then Watanabe and Higashino, the four seeds in Paris and fifth ranked team in the world, turned the screws to go a four- and then three-point run to break the game open.
The all-lefty South Korean pair looked to be in big trouble when the score blew out to 9-4 in the second, but a series of athletic efforts by Seo dragged the third-seeded team to the front 14-13.
Japan's Yuta Watanabe (R) and Arisa Higashino celebrate after beating South Korea's Seo Seung Jae and Chae Yu Jung in the badminton mixed doubles bronze medal match at the Paris Olympics on Aug. 2, 2024, at La Chapelle Arena in Paris. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
Japan's Yuta Watanabe (L) and Arisa Higashino celebrate after beating South Korea's Seo Seung Jae and Chae Yu Jung in the badminton mixed doubles bronze medal match at the Paris Olympics on Aug. 2, 2024, at La Chapelle Arena in Paris. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
Japan's Yuta Watanabe (L) and Arisa Higashino pose with their badminton mixed doubles bronze medals at the Paris Olympics on Aug. 2, 2024, at La Chapelle Arena in Paris. (Kyodo)
The teams tied it 20-20, then Japan earned a hard-fought match point in which Chae mishit the shuttle at the worst possible moment to hand the medal to Japan.
Soon after Japan's triumph, the Chinese pair of Zheng Si Wei and Huang Ya Qiong overcame Kim Won Ho and Jeong Na Eun of South Korea 2-0 to win mixed doubles gold.
Earlier, the Japan women's duo of Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida were overpowered by China's Liu Shengshu and Tan Ning in straight games in the doubles semifinals.
Japan's Chiharu Shida (L) and Nami Matsuyama compete in a badminton women's doubles semifinal match against China's Liu Shengshu and Tan Ning at the Paris Olympics on Aug. 2, 2024, at La Chapelle Arena in Paris. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
In a tightly balanced first game, Matsuyama and Shida pulled even at 15-15 before Tan and Liu sprinted to the finish line. The powerfully built Chinese clinched it on their first game point, 21-16, and then took six of the first seven points in the second game.
Although on the back foot for most of the match, Matsuyama and Shida narrowed the gap to one point in the second game before Tan and Liu ended it 21-19 on their first match point.
"They were better than us in every respect," Shida said, after she and her partner were kept off balance from start to finish by Liu and Tan's powerful smashes.
Japan's Chiharu Shida (L) and Nami Matsuyama react after losing to China's Liu Shengshu and Tan Ning in a women's badminton doubles semifinal match at the Paris Olympics on Aug. 2, 2024, at La Chapelle Arena in Paris. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
Tan and Liu, the world's third-ranked pair, will now face their top-ranked compatriots, Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan, in Saturday's gold medal match.
The Japanese will play Malaysia's 12th-ranked duo of Pearly Tan and Muralitharan Thinaah for bronze.
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