Source:REUTERS/Ann Wang
[Saba Sports News] In the women’s doubles semifinal at the 2024 Paris Olympics, the Chinese pair Liu Shengshu and Tan Ning defeated the Japanese pair Chiharu Shida and Nami Matsuyama in straight sets. After the match, Chiharu Shida, known as the “Japanese badminton goddess,” tried to smile and greet her coach and teammates but was visibly in tears. Netizens expressed their sympathy, saying it was heartbreaking to see her cry, yet she still looked beautiful even in tears. This is not the first time Shida has been brought to tears by the Chinese team; she cried after losing to Chinese players in the 2023 BWF World Tour Finals and the 2024 French Open. If the Rio and Tokyo Olympic cycles were the “golden generation” for Japanese women’s doubles with pairs like Ayaka Takahashi/Misaki Matsutomo, Yuki Fukushima/Sayaka Hirota, and Mayu Matsumoto/Wakana Nagahara, then Shida and Matsuyama are the top pair of the Paris Olympic cycle. However, due to their poor performance in major tournaments, they have been labeled by the Japanese media as “the weakest pair in the past decade” and have yet to win any world championship titles.