Paris: Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin of Taiwan need to wait a bit longer to advance to the top 8 in men’s doubles at the 2024 Paris Olympics after China’s Ou Xuanyi and Liu Yuchen defeated Japan’s Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi 22-20, 21-18 on Tuesday, bringing Ou/Liu’s group stage record to 2 wins and 1 loss. On Wednesday, Ou Xuanyi/Liu Yuchen and Lee Yang/Wang Chi-lin will face off, competing for a spot in the next round.
Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin have consecutively defeated Japan’s Takuro Hoki/Yugo Kobayashi, Denmark’s Kim Astrup/Anders Skaarup Rasmussen, and the USA’s Joshua Yuan/Howard Shu, achieving a 3-0 record and temporarily leading their group. However, their advancement is not yet certain due to the complex situation in a group of five teams.
With a 2-1 record, Ou Xuanyi and Liu Yuchen will compete against Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin on Wednesday. If the Chinese pair wins, and Denmark’s Astrup/Rasmussen also defeats Japan’s Hoki/Kobayashi, Denmark, China, and Taiwan will all have 3 wins and 1 loss, necessitating a comparison of match and game points.
However, if Ou/Liu loses to Lee/Wang, and Hoki/Kobayashi beats Astrup/Rasmussen, Lee/Wang will become the group champions, then, Ou/Liu, Astrup/Rasmussen, and Hoki/Kobayashi will all have 2 wins, and 2 losses, it once again has to rely on the match and game points to determine the runners-up of the group. Only the champions and runners-up of each group could advance to the knockout stage.
Currently, Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin have won 3 matches, losing only 1 game to Denmark, with a game record of 6 wins and 1 loss, giving them a net game advantage of +5. They have scored 145 points and conceded 102, resulting in a net points advantage of +43. Denmark, with a 2-1 record, has a net game advantage of +3 and a net points advantage of +17. Ou/Liu have net points of +6 while Hoki/Kobayashi have net points of -2. The outcomes of the matches involving these four teams on July 31st will determine the advancement situation, with the US pair of Vinson Chiu/Joshua Yuan already eliminated after four losses.
In another much-anticipated men’s doubles match on Tuesday between World No. 5 Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty of India and World No. 7 Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Rian Ardianto of Indonesia, Rankireddy/Shetty emerged the champions of Group C by overcoming Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Rian Ardianto 21-13, 21-13. Alfian/Ardianto are the runners-up of Group C.
