Mixed doubles pair Chen Hung-Ling/Cheng Wen-Hsing won Chinese Taipei (Taiwan’s) first ever badminton medal.

[VICTOR News] The 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games reached the semi-final stage on November 20. Chinese Taipei’s (Taiwan’s) only representatives in the semi-finals of the mixed doubles event, Chen Hung-Ling and Cheng Wen-Hsing , unluckily lost to eighth seeds Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei of China, however, they still won the first badminton bronze medal ever won by Chinese Taipei in the Asian Games, a notable and exciting achievement.

Early only on, Chen/Cheng were a match for their powerful adversaries, both teams taking points with smashes and neither side dominating, however, in the middle of the first game Chen/Cheng lost their composure and made a series of unforced errors, allowing their opponents to take seven points in a row and go on take the first set 16-21.In the second game, Chen/Cheng showed they came to fight and gave as good as they got, in the midway stage actually leading 14-12.

However, unfortunately, they faded at the end of the game as their opponents raised their game and brought off a series of clever attacks at the net and smashes from back of court, causing Chen/Cheng to lose several points in a row, opening up a bigger and bigger gap between the two teams.

In the end Chen/Cheng lost 15-21 and went out at the semi-final stage, however they still took a bronze medal which is the first bronze medal Chinese Taipei has ever taken at the Asian Games.

As for the other semi-final, Shin Baek Cheol／Lee Hyo-jung, of South Korea also faced a pair from China, Han Bin and Ma Jin. The game was fiercely contested right from the off and the scores stayed close together.

After two games, each team had won one game. In the final game, at one point the South Koreans had victory within their grasp and only needed one more point to take the gold but the opposition stood their ground and took three points in a row, creating a tense deuce.

However, Shin Baek Cheol took opportunities when they were presented and won the game by wining two points in a row with powerful smashes from the back of the court, bringing the match to an end and taking the South Koreans into the final.

As for another South Korean player, PARK Sung Hwan, he lost to China’s Lin Dan in the men’s singles 14-21, 10-21.