TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan's badminton duo on Sunday (Aug. 4) captured the country's first Olympic gold in the Paris Olympics and are the first Taiwanese shuttlers to win back-to-back Olympic golds.

In the men's badminton doubles finals, Lee Yang (李洋) and Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) faced off with the World No. 1 pair from China, Liang Weikeng (梁偉鏗) and Wang Chang (王昶). A see-saw battle ensued with the opponents splitting the first two games and Taiwan's team edging out their Chinese opponents in the third game.

Lee and Wang jumped out to an early lead in the first game until China caught up at 11:11. However, Taiwan gradually pulled ahead again as China's errors increased, with several shots sailing out of bounds, winning the game 21-17.  

The second game also saw Lee and Wang taking the lead initially. China caught up with a 6-6 tie, and although the Taiwanese duo once extended their lead to 14-11, China leveled the score at 15-15 after winning two consecutive points and Taiwan was unable to answer, losing the second game 18-21.

The third and deciding game was the most intense with back-and-forth action. Although China was initially leading, Lee and Wang fought back to take a 10-9 lead and gradually extended the gap to 17-13.

China won two straight points to narrow the gap to 18-16, but Wang used his powerful overhead smash to help the pair reach 20 first. They ultimately won the final game 21-19 concluding a 75-minute battle. 

The win secured Taiwan's first gold medal of the Paris Olympics and the eighth Olympic gold in Taiwan's history. Lee and Wang now join weightlifter Hsu Shu-ching (許淑淨) as the only Taiwanese athletes to win back-to-back gold medals in the Olympics.

Their win over a Chinese team meant that the Taiwanese national flag anthem was played in front of Chinese athletes for only the second time in Olympic history, with the first being their victory at the Tokyo Games.