U.S. Women’s Doubles, Men’s Singles, and Men’s Doubles Finish Up Group Play on Day 4 at Paris 2024
- July 30, 2024
- 3:13 am
On Tuesday, July 30, Arena Porte de la Chapelle was packed with spectators as badminton fans enjoyed Day 4 of play for Paris 2024. All three U.S. matches of the day took place in the morning session as the American athletes for Women’s Doubles, Men’s Singles, and Men’s Doubles all finished up their Group Play matches.
In Women’s Doubles, twins Annie Xu and Kerry Xu faced a fellow pair of sisters, Bulgaria’s Gabriela Stoeva and Stefani Stoeva. Throughout the match, the chemistry and connection of both sisters were on display through long rallies and smooth rotation. Although they entered the interval down 7-11, the U.S. twins were nearly able to come back as they lost the first game 18-21. At the interval of the second game, they were down 7-11 again but would lose 12-21 in the end. This match is the first in Olympic history for two pairs of sisters to face each other.
In Men’s Singles, Howard Shu faced a tough battle against France’s Toma Popov Junior in a venue packed with French fans. Although the French cheers resonated throughout the crowd, there were also cheers for the U.S. and Shu’s performance. The U.S. athlete entered the interval down 6-11 but had a series of good rallies out of the break to narrow the gap. In the end, Shu lost the first game 11-21. Despite starting the second game with a string of points, the French athlete was able to battle back and Shu would also lose the second game 12-21.
In Men’s Doubles, Vinson Chiu and Joshua Yuan had the most difficult match of their tournament so far as they faced the reigning Olympic gold medalists from Chinese Taipei, Lee Yang and Wang Chi-Lin. Chiu and Yuan faced heavy pressure early on, going into the first interval down 3-11 under a flurry of attacking shots. They would end the first game with a loss, 12-21. In the second game, the U.S. pair battled point-for-point to start off the game, going into the interval down only by a few points. The Chinese Taipei pair regained control of the game after the break, however, and Chiu and Yuan would lose the second game 13-21.
Although the U.S. Men’s Singles, Men’s Doubles, Women’s Doubles, and Mixed Doubles athletes will not make it out of Group Play for this tournament, they have represented their country well as their Paris 2024 play comes to an end.
Play continues for the U.S. on Wednesday, July 31, as Women’s Singles athlete Beiwen Zhang finishes out her Group Play in Group K against Vietnam’s Thuy Linh Nguyen at 8:30 AM Paris Time. See here for the full schedule.
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Photo Credit: BadmintonPhoto (Mikael Ropars, Yohan Nonotte)
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