Taiwanese Olympic gold medalists Lee Yang (??) and Wang Chi-lin (???) returned to action after recovering from COVID-19 to rout Norwegians Torjus Flaatten and Vegard Rikheim on the first day of the Singapore Open Tuesday.
The world No. 4 and third-seeded Taiwanese duo overpowered the world No. 65 pairing of Flaatten and Rikheim in straight games 21-10, 21-14 in a first-round match at the Singapore Indoor Stadium that lasted just 24 minutes and was their first-ever meeting.
The excellent performance marked a strong return by Lee and Yang after recovering from COVID-19 this month, which forced them to withdraw from the Malaysia Masters tournament, held from July 5-10.
Their agent told the media on July 4 that both men were experiencing a “slight fever and sore throat” in Malaysia after competing in the Malaysia Open, held from June 28 to July 3.
Back at their victorious return to competition Tuesday, Lee and Yang powered ahead in the opening game to lead 13-4 at one one stage and maintained that cushion for a comfortable first game win.
In the second game, the Norwegians were briefly in front 9-8 before Lee and Wang reeled off four consecutive points to take the lead 12-9.
Finding their stride, the 2020 Tokyo Olympic champions reached match point at 20-13, with Flaatten and Rikheim able to save the first point but not the second.
The Taiwan duo will face He Jiting and Zhou Haodong of China in the second round.
The Super 500 tournament 2022 Singapore Open, held from July 12-17, carries a total purse of US$370,000 (NT$11.05 million).
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel