The No. 1-ranked men's badminton duo of Lee Yong-dae and Yoo Yeon-seong suffered a shocking defeat in the quarterfinals at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics on Monday.
Park Hae-mook/The Korea Herald
The 12th-ranked Malaysian team of Goh V Shem and Tan Wee Kiong stunned the South Koreans 2-1 (17-21, 21-18, 21-19) at Riocentro-Pavilion 4, sending the gold medal favorites packing after just one knockout match.
Lee and Yoo had been 5-1 against the Malaysians prior to the Rio Games.
The South Koreans were coming off a loss in their final group stage match, though they'd already clinched a knockout spot by then. They had said they would go back to the drawing board and seek to address issues that emerged from that loss. Yet problems still lingered against Goh and Tan.
Lee and Yoo were unable to take control of the match, even with a slim 10-8 lead in the first game. It was their biggest lead of the opening frame until they finally pulled away from the pesky Malaysians 20-16, and closed them out 21-17.
It was all Goh and Tan the rest of the way. The Malaysians started bullying around the South Koreans with an array of smashes and winners. Down 19-14, the South Koreans fought back to make it 19-18, but Goh and Tan picked up the two final points needed to take the game.
The story didn't change in the decisive third game. Though the South Koreans opened up a 4-1 lead with the opponents' unforced errors, they promptly allowed the Malaysians to tie the score at 5-5.
Then at 10-10, Tan scored four straight points himself. The Malaysians went from leading 15-13 to 19-14, as Lee and Yoo struggled to find answers against the onslaught.
Facing the match point at 20-16, Yoo picked up three consecutive points, sending a buzz through the pro-Malaysian crowd.
Tan and Goh finally finished off the South Koreans and completed the biggest upset of the badminton tournament so far.
Earlier Monday, another South Korean men's doubles team, Kim Sa-rang and Kim Gi-jung, also got eliminated in the quarterfinals.
Fu Haifeng and Zhang Nan of China beat the South Koreans 2-1 (11-21, 21-18, 24-22), saving a match point in the final game to complete the rally.
The South Koreans were in cruise control in the opening game, building a 14-3 lead barely 10 minutes into the contest. They won 21-11.
Kim and Kim scored the first three points of the next game, but the Chinese packed more punch this time.
The South Koreans led 15-12 but allowed the Chinese to creep back into the match. Down 18-15, Fu and Zhang scored six consecutive points to take the game and tie the match.
The South Koreans again had a quick start in the third game and led 10-2. The Chinese, though, refused to go away, and made it a one-point game at 16-15 for the Kims.
The South Koreans scored consecutive winners and came to within a point of a victory at 20-18.
Fu and Zhang stayed relentless, however, and forced a deuce with two straight points. Unforced errors did in the South Koreans, as Fu and Zhang completed the comeback at 24-22.
In the women's doubles, one of two South Korean doubles teams advanced to the semifinals.
Jung Kyung-eun and Shin Seung-chan defeated Eefje Muskens and Selena Piek of the Netherlands 2-1 (21-13, 20-22, 21-14) in the quarters, and they will face Misaki Matsumoto and Ayaka Takahashi of Japan on Tuesday for a spot in the gold medal match.
The South Koreans started out fast to open a 9-2 lead. Soon it was 18-9, with an array of South Korean winners and unforced errors by the Dutch team. The South Koreans were never seriously threatened as they took the opening game 21-13.
It was a bit closer in the second game. The South Koreans led 11-9 before allowing the Dutch to tie things up at 13-13. Jung and Shin held the match point leading 20-16, but then allowed four straight points to fall into a deuce. The Dutch team then scored two more in a row to take the game and tie the match.
The South Koreans regrouped and charged out to a 5-1 lead in the third game. The Dutch responded with six unanswered points, as a seesaw affair ensued.
Jung and Shin soon took control and went up 17-13. Then they went on a 4-1 run to close out the opponents.
Chang Ye-na and Lee So-hee, however, were eliminated in the quarterfinals in the women's doubles, as Christinna Pedersen and Kamilla Rytter Juhl of Denmark prevailed 2-1 (28-26, 18-21, 21-15).
The South Koreans blew a 13-8 lead to lose the first game.
After taking the second game, they went down 9-3 to start the third game. Then with her team leading 11-8, Pedersen scored four straight winners to blow open the match, as she and Rytter Juhl cruised to the victory.
In the men's singles, Son Wan-ho defeated Angus Ng of Hong Kong
2-0 (23-21, 21-17) to reach the quarterfinals. The world No. 8 will next take on the second-ranked Chinese star, Chen Long, on Wednesday.
In the women's singles, world No. 7 Sung Ji-hyun defeated Linda Zetchiri of Bulgaria 2-0 (21-15, 21-12) to set up a quarterfinals meeting against Carolina Marin, the world No. 1, on Tuesday. Sung is 1-5 all-time against Marin.
Bae Yeon-ju, the second South Korean in the women's singles, was eliminated in the round of 16, with Nozomi Okuhara of Japan coming out on top 2-0 (21-6, 21-7). (Yonhap)
