Sadly, we're reaching the business end of the badminton competition in the doubles, with just four teams remaining in the men's and women's competitions this 2 of July in the Olympic Village of Paris. 

First of the day, Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong won the badminton mixed doubles gold medal when top seeds Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong thrashed their South Korean opponents in just 41 minutes. The Chinese duo lost in the final of the Tokyo Games three years ago but set the record straight with a 21-8, 21-11 victory over Kim Won-ho and Jeong Na-eun. Backed by huge support from Chinese fans inside La Chapelle Arena, Zheng and Huang stormed into an early lead and took the first game in less than 20 minutes.

The South Korean pair made a better start to the second game but Zheng and Huang were relentless, eventually closing out the match when Jeong hit a return wide. Japan's Yuta Watanabe and Arisa Higashino took bronze after a 21-13, 22-20 win over South Korea's Seo Seung-jae and Chae Yu-jung.

China has topped the badminton medals table at the last six Olympics. They are guaranteed more gold and silver when Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan take on Liu Shengshu and Tan Ning in an all-Chinese women's doubles final on Saturday. Chinese top seeds Liang Weikeng and Wang Chan reached the men's doubles final, where they will take on Taiwan's defending champions Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin.

It was a super special day for Huang Yaqiong for two reasons. She received a marriage proposal after winning gold. After receiving her Olympic gold medal for winning mixed doubles alongside Zheng Siwei, her boyfriend and Chinese men's doubles player Liu Yuchen proposed to her, and she said yes! It's not the first proposal we've had between athletes these Games, either. Argentina's Pablo Simonet and Maria Campoy got engaged in the Olympic Village earlier in the Games.

The preview: What happened yesterday?

Defending badminton champion Viktor Axelsen delivered a commanding performance to reach the Olympic quarter-finals, dispatching Ireland’s Nhat Nguyen with a scoreline of 21-13, 21-10. Axelsen’s victory ensured he topped his group and advanced with a fresh body into the knockout stage.

In his post-match remarks, Axelsen expressed satisfaction with his performance, noting, "I stepped up and managed to play at a pretty consistent high level. Nhat couldn't really find the answers in the last part of the game." Despite losing his top world ranking to China’s Shi Yuqi in June, Axelsen remains a formidable contender.

Shi Yuqi, who is now the top seed, also breezed into the quarter-finals, defeating Italy’s Giovanni Toti 21-9, 21-10. Shi, who has claimed four titles on the world tour this year, remains unfazed by the pressure of being the top-ranked player. "I haven't thought about it much," Shi said, revealing his focus is on securing his first Olympic medal.

The quarter-finals will also feature India’s Lakshya Sen, who edged out Indonesia’s Jonatan Christie in a thrilling final group match. Sen secured his place with a score of 21-18, 21-12, and remarked, "The last few months the form has been really good. I’ve had ups and downs but overall I've been in good shape."

Meanwhile, Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn progressed after Finnish player Kalle Koljonen retired from their match. In the women’s singles, Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi overcame Canada’s Michelle Li with a hard-fought 22-24, 21-17, 21-12 win. India’s PV Sindhu also advanced, defeating Estonia’s Kristin Kuuba 21-5, 21-10.

Lee Zii, "in control"

Lee Zii Jia told himself to calm down as France's Toma Popov traded point for point, trying to force a third game with the deafening crowd at La Chapelle Arena behind him. And the Malaysian, who has openly admitted to his share of mental struggles in recent years, found inner peace to edge his resilient opponent 21-13, 24-22 to reach his first Olympic quarter-final at the Paris 2024 badminton tournament on Thursday (1 August).

“It’s a tough game in the second game and I was expecting to go into the third set,” Lee said. “First of all, the crowd here is definitely very crazy and Popov again he played a very good match today. I’ve played him a few times and he's in his best condition now definitely. A lot of respect for him. I was just trying to calm down myself on the court and just try to focus on every point. That’s all I was trying to do", he said.

Lee - who was knocked out in the round of 16 three years ago at Tokyo 2020 - is the first Malaysian since the great Lee Chong Wei won a silver medal at Rio 2016 to reach the last eight at the Games.

Olympic History of the sport

Badminton made its Olympic debut as a demonstration sport at the 1972 Games in Munich and was included as an exhibition sport at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul. It then officially became part of the Olympic competition programme at the 1992 Games in Barcelona with four medal categories: men's and women's singles and men's and women's doubles.

Mixed doubles was added to the discipline four years later in Atlanta. Asian countries have dominated the medal tally, winning 106 of the 121 badminton medals in Olympic history.

At Paris 2024, 172 athletes will compete in the badminton event. The five events - men's and women's singles, men's and women's doubles, men's and women's doubles and mixed doubles - will be contested over 10 days of competition. Five gold, silver and bronze medals will be awarded.