In their Olympic debut, Chiharu Shida and Nami Matsuyama of Japan have claimed the bronze medal in the badminton women's doubles tournament after cruising to a 21-11 21-11 victory over Malaysia's Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan in Saturday's third place playoff.
The fourth-seeded Shida and Matsuyama, who emerged as Japan's premier women's pairing after the previous Games in Tokyo, had suffered heartbreak on Friday when they were valiant in a 21-16 21-19 loss to Chinese duo Liu Shengshu and Tan Ning.
While there would be tears once again on Saturday, the overriding emotion on this occasion would be joy as Shida and Matsuyama earned Japan a second badminton bronze medal in Paris -- emulating Yuta Watanabe and Arisa Higashino in the mixed doubles.
Despite falling short in their medal quest, the unseeded Tan and Thinaah can look back on their fourth-place finish with plenty of pride following a run which saw them pull off a massive upset over second-ranked South Koreans Baek Ha-Na and Lee So-Hee.
The Malaysian pair, currently ranked 13th in the world, now arguably have a new career highlight having previously won gold at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, which has prominent absentees in powerhouses China, Japan, South Korea and Indonesia.
Malaysia could still claim a podium finish in the badminton tournament with Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik also battling for the bronze medal in the men's doubles, while Lee Zii Jia will also be in action on Sunday with a men's singles semifinal meeting with Thailand's Kunlavut Vitidsarn.
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