By Richa Naidu
PARIS (Reuters) -South Korea’s An Se-young beat He Bingjiao of China 21-13 21-16 to capture the badminton women’s singles Olympic gold medal at the Port de La Chapelle Arena on Monday.
Indonesia’s Gregoria Tunjung took bronze by default as her would-be opponent, Spain’s Carolina Marin, was forced to retire midway through her women’s singles semi-final against China’s He on Sunday with what appeared to be a serious knee injury.
An, the world number one, had large bandages strapped around her right leg, which she injured at the 2023 Asian Games.
She had to withdraw during the 2024 India Open in January after causing more damage.
The 22-year-old An powered through in Paris, however, as her controlled pacing finished off He, with the pair at one point delivering a rally that lasted nearly a minute.
The South Korea fans came to the arena in droves to chant the name of their last hope of a Paris gold medal in badminton.
The country is the sport’s third-most successful at the Olympics after China and Indonesia, medalling at least once in each Games since badminton became an Olympic sport in 1992.
(Reporting by Richa Naidu; Editing by Ken Ferris)
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