Seo Seung-jae, Chae Yu-jung miss badminton mixed doubles podium

Korea’s Seo Seung-jae and Chae Yu-jung missed out on the badminton mixed doubles podium at the 2024 Paris Olympics on Friday, losing 2-0 to Yuta Watanabe and Arisa Higoshino of Japan in the bronze medal match.

From left: Korea's Chae Yu-jung and Seo Seung-jae react after losing the badminton mixed doubles bronze medal match at the 2024 Paris Olympics in Paris on Friday. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

Korea’s Seo Seung-jae and Chae Yu-jung missed out on the badminton mixed doubles podium at the 2024 Paris Olympics on Friday, losing 2-0 to Yuta Watanabe and Arisa Higoshino of Japan in the bronze medal match.

Seo and Chae, ranked higher going into the match, struggled in the first game, losing 21-13 to the Japanese pair. They rallied in the second game, holding them level throughout and forcing three match points before finally conceding.

With the win, Watanabe and Higoshino become the first badminton mixed doubles pair ever to win back-to-back gold medals in the discipline.

Seo and Chae arrived in the bronze medal match after losing to compatriots Kim Won-ho and Jeong Na-eun in a tight Korea-on-Korea semifinal a day earlier.

Korea is still guaranteed a medal in the event, with Kim and Jeong set to face China’s Zheng Si Wei and Huang Ya Qiong in the gold medal match later Friday.

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]