Greysia Polii and Apriyani Rahayu won badminton women’s doubles gold on Monday (August 2), breaking a Chinese stranglehold and claiming Indonesia’s first title of the Tokyo Olympics.
They beat China’s second seeds Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan 21-19 21-15 to cries of encouragement from a handful of socially distanced Indonesian team members and support staff that echoed through Tokyo’s mostly empty Musashino Forest Sport Plaza.
China had won every women’s doubles gold but two since badminton’s debut at the 1992 Games, but the Indonesians came flying out of the blocks and never let up until the final point.
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