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| South Korea's Shin Seung-chan, left, and Jung Kyung-eun competes against China's Tan Yuanting and Yu Yang in the women's badminton doubles bronze medal match at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics on Thursday. South Koreans won 2-0. / Yonhap |
The South Korean women's badminton doubles team of Jung Kyung-eun and Shin Seung-chan captured a bronze medal at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics on Thursday.
Jung and Shin defeated Tan Yuanting and Yu Yang beat 2-0 (21-8, 21-17). This was South Korea's first badminton medal in Rio and will also be the only one this Olympics.
Jung and Shin were the only team to even take a crack at a medal. Four other doubles pairs -- two in men's, one in women's and one in mixed doubles -- lost in the quarterfinals. Two singles players, Sung Ji-hyun for women and Son Wan-ho for men, only reached as far as the quarters.
South Korea has never been shut out of badminton medals since the sport joined the Olympics in 1992.
The South Koreans, ranked No. 5, lost their only previous meeting against the No. 2-ranked Chinese team. But this time Jung and Shin dominated from the start, opening up an 8-3 lead. Then leading 13-8, Jung alone was responsible for eight consecutive points that closed out the first game in just 16 minutes.
The Chinese tried to extend the match in the next game, but the South Koreans were relentless. A 3-3 tie promptly became a 13-8 cushion for Jung and Shin. They held the match point at 20-15, and conceded two points before Shin's winner clinched the bronze medal. (Yonhap)
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