PARIS — Three South Korean doubles teams were knocked out of medal contention at the Paris Olympics on Thursday after suffering losses in the quarterfinals.
According to Yonhap News Agency, in the men's doubles quarterfinals, Kang Min-hyuk and Seo Seung-jae, the 2023 world champions, lost to Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen of Denmark 2-0 (21-19, 22-20) at La Chapelle Arena. Despite defeating the same Danish team for their world title last year, Kang and Seo could not overcome them this time. The South Koreans conceded the first game 21-19 after a late push and traded points in the second game before moving to game point at 20-18. However, Denmark scored four consecutive points to win the match.
South Korea last won a men's doubles medal in 2012, with Chung Jae-sung and Lee Yong-dae securing bronze. Seo is set to play in the mixed doubles semifinals with Chae Yu-jung later Thursday, facing another South Korean duo, Kim Won-ho and Jeong Na-eun, ensuring South Korea at least a silver in the mixed doubles. This will be the only doubles medal for South Korea in Paris, as both women's doubles teams also suffered losses in the quarterfinals.
In the women's doubles, Baek Hana and Lee So-hee, world No. 2, lost to the third-ranked Chinese team, Liu Shengshu and Tan Ning, by 2-0 (21-9, 21-13). Earlier, Kim So-yeong and Kong Hee-yong, the 2021 Olympic bronze medalists, were defeated by the 12th-ranked Malaysian pair, Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan, 2-0 (21-12, 21-13). These losses mean South Korea will not compete for a women's doubles medal, after winning bronze in the last two competitions.
Baek and Lee could not control the match against Liu and Tan. In the first game, the Chinese team held a 9-6 lead before scoring nine straight points, closing the game 21-9. In the second game, China quickly turned a 10-8 lead into a 15-8 advantage, with Lee struggling with her returns, resulting in a 21-13 defeat.
Kim and Kong's loss in the first game against Malaysia saw them trailing 7-0 within five minutes. They struggled to establish any rhythm as Malaysia controlled the match. The second game was tighter initially, with Kim giving South Korea a 7-5 lead, but Malaysia responded with four straight points to lead 11-8. Down 13-10, South Korea tied the game at 13-13 but failed to score again, losing 21-13.