HANGZHOU: Li Shifeng beat fellow Chinese player Shi Yuqi to win the men’s badminton title at the Asian Games today while India clinched their first ever Asiad gold in the sport.
Li defeated former world silver medallist Shi 23-21, 21-13 in Hangzhou and celebrated by ripping off his shirt and performing a backflip.
The teammates were neck-and-neck throughout the first game before Li pulled away in the second.
In the men’s doubles final, Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy made badminton history for India.
They defeated South Korea’s Choi Sol-gyu and Kim Won-ho 21-18, 21-16.
In the mixed doubles final, China’s Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong defeated Yuta Watanabe and Arisa Higashino of Japan 21-15, 21-14 in 47 minutes.
“This match was stressful for me, but the crowd kept supporting us and gave us a lot of strength,” Huang said.