TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan’s Yang Po-hsuan (楊博軒) and Hu Ling-fang (胡綾芳) won silver in mixed doubles at the Taipei Open on Sunday after falling to Japan’s Watanabe Yuta and Taguchi Mayu 21-19, 21-8 in the final, per LTN.
The loss meant Taiwan finished the tournament without a title for the first time since 2015.
The Taipei Open concluded Sunday with Sports Minister Lee Yang (李洋) in attendance to cheer on the Taiwanese pair. Lee also presented medals during the awards ceremony following the match.
Seeded second and ranked No. 12 in the world, Yang and Hu advanced to the final without dropping a game in their first four matches.
In the championship match, they faced the world No. 19 Japanese pair of Watanabe and Taguchi. The two pairs had met only once before, at this year’s Badminton Asia Championships, where the Japanese pair also won.
Yang and Hu made a strong start, opening a 6-2 lead before Watanabe and Taguchi rallied to move ahead 18-15. The Taiwanese pair fought back to level the score at 19-19, but the Japanese duo claimed the final two points to take the opening game 21-19, per LTN.
Yang and Hu scored the first point of the second game but struggled to break through their opponents’ defense. Watanabe and Taguchi quickly pulled away and secured the title with a 21-8 victory.
The result marked the second time Yang and Hu have finished as runners-up at the Taipei Open.
