French Open: Chen/Jia fight back to win women's doubles title

China's badminton duo Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan notched another emotional victory as the world No. 1 pair came back from 20-15 down in the decisive game to defeat Japan's Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida 21-12, 19-21, 24-22 in the French Open women's doubles final on Sunday.

"We didn't think that we were only one point away from defeat, but rather thought that we still needed seven points to win the match," a tearful Jia said after the victory.

Feng Yanzhe/Huang Dongping(L) of China compete during the mixed doubles final match against Seo Seung Jae/Chae Yu Jung of South Korea at the French Open Badminton tournament in Paris, France, March 10, 2024. (Photo by Aurelien Morissard/Xinhua)

Taking place at the Porte de La Chapelle Arena, the tournament served as a test event for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. This venue, dedicated to badminton and rhythmic gymnastics at the upcoming Olympics, is the only permanent facility constructed within the smaller Paris area specifically for the Games.

"Winning the title in this venue was of course special for us. We said to each other before the match that we were going to play as if it were the Olympic final," said Jia, who also won the same title with Chen in 2016.

The four-time world champions went into the match strongly, pocketing the first game after a seven-point streak. But Japan's sixth seeds managed a strong fightback in the second and third games, forcing the Chinese pair to dig deep for the victory.

"I know I made some mistakes in the second game, and it was not good at the beginning of the third, but I saved myself in the final stages of the match," Jia added.

Earlier, in the mixed doubles, China's Feng Yanzhe and Huang Dongping beat South Korea's Seo Seung-jae and Chae Yu-jung 21-16, 21-16 to take their first crown of the season.

South Korea's An Se-young claimed the women's singles title by rallying past Akane Yamaguchi of Japan 18-21, 21-13, 21-10 in the final.