Kuala Lumpur: Taiwan’s doubles win in badminton by Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin was Taiwan’s second gold medal, after Kuo Hsing-Chun won in weightlifting, and added to its biggest medal haul in Olympic history.
The Taiwanese duo knocked off Chinese No 3 seeds Li Junhui and Liu Yuchen. Tai Tzu-Ying guaranteed a second medal for Taiwan, facing No 1 seed Chen Yufei in the women’s singles final.
The nail-biting matches lit a fire of sporting patriotism.
This Taiwan’s biggest medal haul in history and social media was awash with celebrations.
In a post on Facebook, Lee dedicated the win to “my country, Taiwan”.
President Tsai Ing-wen congratulated the team for “winning the first badminton gold medal in our country”.
Such comments will not sit well with China. The Chinese believe Taiwan belongs to them but the Taiwanese beating them in the Olympics may cause outrage in Beijing!
