At the conclusion of the women's singles badminton gold medal match, both players dropped to their knees.
Chen Yufei's reaction was one of triumph while Tai Tzu-Ying fell to the court with less enthusiasm. The player from Chinese Taipei had nearly pulled off a comeback after losing the first game and trailing by seven points early in Game 3, but Tai could not outlast her opponent.
Chen emerged victorious, winning the final game 21-18 after taking the first game 21-18, but the match was truly a back-and-forth battle. It lasted an hour and 21 minutes, and the longest rally was 45 strokes.
Chen's medal is China's second gold in badminton and fourth overall medal in the sport. Tai's silver is the second in badminton for her nation, following a gold in the men's doubles match.
SEE MORE: Unseeded Chinese Taipei wins gold in badminton men's double
P.V. Sindhu of India defeated China's He Bingjiao 2-0 in the bronze medal match to place third. Sindhu easily won both games, 21-13, 21-15. Her medal is the first for India in badminton of the Tokyo Games.
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American Beiwen Zhang suffered an Achilles injury in the Round of 16 that forced her to retire from the match. She made it deeper into an Olympic badminton tournament than any American woman had before.
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In women's doubles, the two teams representing South Korea will face off for bronze while Greysia Polii and Apriyani Rahayu of Indonesia will challenge China's Chen Qing Chen and Jia Yi Fan for gold.
In men's singles, Guatemala's Kevin Cordon will take on Indonesia's Anthony Ginting for bronze. The gold medal match is between Viktor Axelsen of Denmark and Chen Long of China.
