The first gold medal will be won in badminton at the Paris Olympics against China's Zheng Siwei/Huang Yaqiong and Korea's Kim Won-ho/Jung Na-eun for the mixed doubles title. In terms of world rankings, the IELTS pair is ranked No. 1 in the world, and Kim Won-ho/Jung Na-eun are only ranked eighth in mixed doubles, with a significant gap between the two pairs, but in terms of historical records, the two sides are evenly matched.
According to the BWF, Zheng Siwei/Huang Yaqiong and Jin Yuanhao/Zheng Nayin have played each other a total of 7 times, with Zheng Siwei/Huang Yaqiong leading by a small margin of 4-3. The two sides met once in the group stage of the Olympics, when the IELTS pair won 2-0 in just 35 minutes, and neither game allowed their opponents to score more than 15 points, which can be described as a crushing victory.
Kim Won-ho/Jung Na-eun have beaten Zheng Siwei/Huang Yaqiong three times in Singapore '23, France '23 and Malaysia '24. In the mixed doubles at the Olympics, Kim Won-ho/Jung Na-eun should be considered one of the few pairs that pose a threat to Zheng Siwei/Huang Yaqiong. Jin Yuanhao/Zheng Nayin's style of play is more special, many times the female players kill the ball in the backcourt, and the male players seal the net in the front court, and they control the offensive rhythm of the IELTS combination more properly, so Zheng Siwei/Huang Yaqiong is a little difficult to play.
The semi-finals of the two pairs were completely different, with Jung Siwei/Hwang Yaqiong beating Japan's Yuta Watanabe/Arisa Higashino 2-0, while Kim Won-ho/Jung Na-eun narrowly defeated Seo Seung-jae/Choi Yoo-jeong after three hard-fought games, and they also represented Korea in mixed doubles for the first time in 16 years after Lee Yong-dae/Lee Hyo-jeong. In other words, Zheng Siwei/Huang Yaqiong won easily and retained their physical strength for the final; Kim Won-ho/Jung Na-eun are physically exhausted, and whether they will still have enough physical strength in the final is a big question.
And Jin Yuanhao vomited once in the third game of the semifinals, and even vomited twice. The reason why vomiting occurs is because of the exhaustion of physical energy, and in the end, it is completely dependent on the quality of will. Despite reaching the finals, it was difficult to get back to the top of the game in just one day. On one side is the energetic Zheng Siwei/Huang Yaqiong, and on the other side is the exhausted Jin Yuanhao/Zheng Nayin, who can win the championship at a glance.
In the case of physical strength, the Korea group may still be able to fight Zheng Siwei/Huang Yaqiong, but now even if they have the heart, they are powerless. After another mixed doubles pair, Feng Yanzhe/Huang Dongping, stopped in the quarterfinals, female player Huang Dongping announced a new decision through social media, that is, "to play in the World Championships for 25 years". Huang Dongping wrote: "When I finished the Tokyo Olympics, I thought about retiring after playing in Paris at most, and now I am a little reluctant to leave. So, let's set a goal for the 3-year-old phoenix: this time next year, fly back to Paris, and continue to soar on the stage of the World Championships! ”