Ye Hong-wei and Zhan You-zhen secured Taiwan’s first Asian Games mixed doubles badminton medal since 2010 by reaching the semifinals in Nagoya, where they fell to China’s Jiang Zhenbang and Wei Yaxin 21-13, 21-9. Because the tournament awards bronzes to both losing semifinalists without a third-place match, the silver-medal loss still landed on the podium for Chinese Taipei.
Path through the draw
The pair won early-round matches in Ichinomiya municipal gymnasiums alongside a men’s team that reached the quarterfinals. Their semifinal opponent featured the top-seeded Chinese duo that went on to take gold.
Taiwan’s singles hopes ended earlier in the week when Chou Tien-chen lost his quarterfinal after playing three high-intensity matches within 24 hours, a schedule he criticized publicly as unfair to athletes.
Team context
Taiwan added five medals on September 29 across athletics, table tennis, shooting, and badminton, according to Taiwan News. The mixed doubles bronze was the lone racket-sport medal but carried symbolic weight given Indonesia and Korea also stacked their squads with professional tour players.
What is next for the pair
Ye and Zhan return to the world tour circuit in October with ranking points that could improve seeding at November’s Super 500 events. National sports administration officials said they would lodge a formal complaint about badminton scheduling with the Olympic Council of Asia, though results are unlikely to change.
For Taipei sports readers, the medal is a bookend to a Games where Taiwan’s team events outperformed singles draws—a pattern coaches may revisit before the next continental cycle.