It was a golden and diamond-studded day for Chinese badminton player Huang Ya Qiong at the Olympics.
Huang and her partner Zheng Siwei triumphed over South Korea’s Kim Won-ho and Jeong Na-eun with scores of 21-8, 21-11 in the mixed doubles final, concluding an unbeaten run in Paris. After their victory, Huang, with the gold medal around her neck, accepted a wedding proposal from Li Yuchen, another member of China’s badminton team.
“For me, the proposal is very surprising because I have been preparing for the game,” Huang said through an interpreter. “Today I am an Olympic champion and I got proposed to, so that’s something I didn’t expect.”
Huang and Zheng, who were 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.
Zheng mentioned that he got engaged three years ago after losing in the finals and believes this experience is better for his partner.
“I think it must be happier for her,” he said. “Last time it was purely for my proposal, but this time it’s basically double lucky things happening at the same time.”
In the bronze-medal match, Japan’s Yuta Watanabe and Arisa Higashino defeated South Korea’s Seo Seung-jae and Chae Yu-jung with scores of 21-13, 22-20. They also secured an Olympic bronze three years ago on home soil and expressed disappointment about not clinching a higher medal this time.
“The bronze medal is not the best,” Yuta said. “I wanted the gold medal, but this is better than nothing.”
China has secured mixed doubles badminton gold at back-to-back Olympics and has claimed the title five out of eight times since the event became a medal discipline in Atlanta in 1996. Wang Yilyu, who won gold in Tokyo with Huang Dong Ping, retired after the Tokyo Olympics. Huang Dong Ping teamed up with Feng Yan Zhe in Paris and lost to Zheng and Huang in the quarterfinals.
Additionally, China 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.