Doubles, Mixed

As in the other badminton doubles events, the previous Olympic champions in the mixed event did not return to defend their title. The silver medallists, however, Chan Peng Soon and Goh Liu Ying of Malaysia, were present in Tokyo, but they had not seen many notable successes since and were eliminated in the group stage. Top-seeded were China’s Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong, who were also the reigning world champions for the past two years.

The final ended up being an all-China affair, as Zheng and Huang faced off against second-seeded Wang Yilyu and Huang Dongping, the most recent Asian champions. In a close and exciting match, Wang and Huang Dongping were able to defeat their compatriots and win an unexpected gold medal. Bronze, meanwhile, went to Japan’s Yuta Watanabe and Arisa Higashino, who were unseeded but had won a bronze medal at the most recent World Championships, after they defeated a duo from Hong Kong.