"Triumph After 16 Years"... Kim Wonho - Jeong Naeun, Badminton Mixed Doubles 'Silver Medal' [Paris Olympics]

The mixed doubles duo of Kim Won-ho (Samsung Life) and Jeong Na-eun (Hwasun County Office) won a valuable silver medal. They brought an Olympic silver medal to Korean badminton for the first time in 16 years.

Ranked 8th in the world, Kim Won-ho and Jeong Na-eun lost 0-2 (8-21, 11-21) to China's Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong in the mixed doubles final of the 2024 Paris Olympic badminton tournament held at Porte de la Chapelle Arena in Paris, France, on the 2nd (local time), finishing as runners-up.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Although they could not overcome the dominance of the world No. 1 pair, this is a valuable result as the first medal for Korean badminton in this tournament. Korean badminton reached the Olympic final and won a silver medal for the first time in 16 years since the 2008 Beijing Games, where they won one gold, one silver, and one bronze medal.

In the meantime, at the 2012 London, 2016 Rio de Janeiro, and 2020 Tokyo Games held in 2021, Korea only managed to win one bronze medal each time. The Korean badminton mixed doubles medal is also the first in 16 years since Lee Yong-dae and Lee Hyo-jung’s gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Games.

Kim Won-ho earned the title of "mother-and-son Olympic medalists" along with his mother, Gil Young-ah, the Samsung Life coach who was the inaugural mixed doubles champion at the 1996 Atlanta Games.

Backed by the enthusiastic support of Chinese fans waving the Five-starred Red Flag in the stands, Kim Won-ho and Jeong Na-eun struggled throughout the final against world No. 1 Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong. From the early stages of the first game, the score gap widened as they trailed 2-7, and they struggled against Zheng Siwei’s smashing, falling behind 4-11.

After the interval, they found it difficult to change the momentum as they could barely break through Zheng Siwei’s powerful attacks and Huang Yaqiong’s solid net play, eventually suffering a heavy defeat at 8-21. In the second game, they scored first and created a close contest early on, but after leading 4-3, they were quickly overtaken 4-10, losing control of the match.

They repeatedly conceded points as their strength waned while barely defending against their opponents’ attacks, ultimately losing the second game by a large margin and settling for the silver medal. Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong, who were also world No. 1 at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago but lost the final to their compatriots Zhao Junpeng and Wang Yilyu, claimed their first Olympic gold medal this time with a decisive victory in the final.

In the bronze medal match held earlier, Seo Seung-jae and Chae Yu-jung finished fourth after losing 0-2 (13-21, 20-22) to Watanabe Yuta and Higashino Arisa of Japan. Watanabe and Higashino won the Olympic bronze medal for the second consecutive time following Tokyo.