BADMINTON/Taiwan shuttlers Lee, Yang finish runners-up at French Open

Paris, March 10 (CNA) Taiwanese badminton players Lee Jhe-huei (李哲輝) and Yang Po-hsuan (楊博軒) settled for silver at the Yonex French Open after losing to India's Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty in the men's doubles final on Sunday.

The world No. 16 Taiwanese pair finished 11-21, 17-21 against the world's top Indian shuttlers in a match that lasted just 36 minutes at the Adidas Arena in Paris.

Despite being tied 4-4 early in the opener, Rankireddy and Shetty quickly set the tone with an aggressive style of play and remained ahead for the whole game before closing it out with ease.

Lee and Yang improved in the second game and led 14-13 at one point, but a series of unforced errors allowed their opponents to come back from behind and seal a victory.

The Taiwanese duo have lost all three of their matches against the Indian pair.

Lee and Yang told CNA after the tournament they were disappointed with their performance and felt they were too conservative with many of their shots, pledging to come back harder next time they faced the Indian duo.

Regarding their numerous unforced errors, Lee and Yang said Rankireddy and Shetty delivered strong offensive play, which is why many of their defensive shots went wide.

The Taiwanese duo said they should have focused on the offensive.

Lee and Yang, who won the men's doubles title at the Yonex German Open earlier this month, praised their opponents for committing just a few unforced errors.

Before the French Open final, the Taiwanese players defeated world No. 6 Japanese pair Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi in the semifinals on Saturday.

The two players said they hadn't formulated a particular strategy, deciding just to focus on controlling the game and reducing their number of unenforced errors.

The French Open is one of the five Badminton World Federation World Tour Super 750 events, along with the China Masters, the Denmark Open, the Japan Open, and the Singapore Open.

Shuttlers will next compete in the Yonex All England Open Badminton Championships from March 12-17, vying for points to boost their chances of qualifying for the 2024 Paris Olympics.