Badminton Lee Sohee - Shin Seungchan, Semifinal Defeat... Moving to Bronze Medal Match

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Suhwan] Badminton women's doubles pair Lee Sohee and Shin Seungchan lost in the semifinals of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and will now compete for the bronze medal.

On the 31st, at the Musashino Forest Sports Plaza in Tokyo, Japan, Lee Sohee and Shin Seungchan were defeated 0-2 (19-21, 17-21) by Greysia Polii and Apriyani Rahayu (Indonesia) in the women's doubles semifinals of the Tokyo Olympics badminton event, ending their chance to advance to the gold medal match.

Lee Sohee and Shin Seungchan will aim to win a medal in the bronze medal match.

Ranked 4th in the world, Lee Sohee and Shin Seungchan are ahead of Polii and Rahayu, who are ranked 6th, in the world rankings, but have a notably weak head-to-head record against them.

With this loss, their head-to-head record against Polii and Rahayu fell further behind at 2 wins and 6 losses.

Lee Sohee and Shin Seungchan started the first game leading 5-2. However, after tying at 11-11, they allowed a comeback and fell behind.

They caught up at 14-14 and succeeded in regaining the lead after a persistent rally.

However, Polii and Rahayu took the lead again. Lee Sohee and Shin Seungchan tied at 18-18 and scored a comeback point at 19-18.

But Polii and Rahayu scored three consecutive points to take the first game.

In the closely contested second game, Lee Sohee and Shin Seungchan took the lead at 9-6.

After allowing Polii and Rahayu to catch up at 11-11, the score remained tight until 16-16.

However, after conceding four consecutive points, they lost the lead and the chance to advance to the final.

Another women's doubles pair, Kim Soyoung and Gong Heeyong, are set to play their semifinal match.

Ranked 5th in the world, if Kim Soyoung and Gong Heeyong defeat the world-ranked 3rd pair Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan (China) in the semifinals, they will advance to the gold medal match.