Misaki Matsutomo and Ayaka Takahashi of Japan and Danish pair Christinna Pedersen and Kamilla Rytter Juhl contested a tempestuous first game which saw all four players called separately to the umpire’s chair, and the match referee speaking to the team coaches on both sides. “We thought this was going to be our last match so win or lose, we needed to put all our effort in”.
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Defending champion Li Xuerui of China suffered a left knee injury in the second set of her 21-14, 21-16 semifinal defeat Thursday to Spain’s Carolina Marin and will not be able to make the bronze-medal match.
The 25-year-old Li said after the match against Marin that she felt her injury was “not a huge deal”.
Saturday will be the 10th and final day of Olympic badminton at the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara will be awarded the women’s singles badminton bronze medal after China’s Li Xuerui pulled out of their clash with a knee injury, Japan’s Kyodo news agency reported on Thursday.
Okuhara lost her semi-final match against P.V Sindhu on Thursday. Japan’s only previous Olympic medal in the sport was a silver in women’s doubles at the 2012 London Games by Mizuki Fujii and Reika Kakiiwa.
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China still have a chance to land gold in the men’s singles and men’s doubles tournaments.
