Zheng Siwei and Huang Ya Qiong of China win mixed doubles badminton gold at the Paris Olympics

PARIS (AP) — China’s Zheng Siwei and Huang Ya Qiong won mixed doubles badminton gold at the Paris Olympics on Friday in the sport's first final at the Games.

They beat South Korea’s Kim Won-ho and Jeong Na-eun 21-8, 21-11 for the title. Zheng and Huang, silver medalists at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, went 3-0 in group play to earn the top seed in the quarterfinals. They finished the tournament 6-0 without losing a game in the process.

Huang was proposed to by Li Yu Chen, another China badminton player, after receiving her gold medal.

Japan’s Yuta Watanabe and Arisa Higashino beat South Korea’s Seo Seung-jae and Chae Yu-jung 21-13, 22-20 in the bronze-medal match. They also took home Olympic bronze three years ago on home soil and expressed disappointment about not improving on that this time.

“The bronze medal is not the best," Yuta said. “I wanted the gold medal, but this is better than nothing.”

China has won mixed doubles badminton gold at back-to-back Olympics and five out of eight times since it became a medal event in Atlanta in 1996. Wang Yilyu retired after winning gold in Tokyo with Huang Dong Ping, who teamed with Feng Yan Zhe in Paris and lost to Zheng and Huang in the quarterfinals.

The country is guaranteed women's doubles badminton gold and silver. Chen Qing Chen and Jia Yi Fan will face Liu Shengshu and Tan Ning in an all-China final on Saturday.

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AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games