First match on finals day was the Women’s Doubles, following two entertaining semi-finals yesterday. 2018 World Champions Mayu Matsumoto and Wakana Nagahara faced 2017 World Champions in a fascinating battle.
 

The Japanese pair got off to a great start, winning the first game 21-18. A similar level of control of with their defensive approach was visible in in the second game. However, at 18-15 up, Chen and Jia rallied strongly, putting pressure on Matsumoto and Nagahara. Then at a pivotal moment, a string snapped in Natsumoto’s racket, leading China taking the match into a decider.

Chen and Jia stepped it up in the final game after a really great start, winning the final 18-21, 22-20, 21-11. Straight after the match, when asked about their feelings, Jia answered simply in English

-Amazing

Not afraid to lose

We asked them about the turning point in the match, Chen enthusiastically replied

-We held our ground in the 2nd game, and our opponents made mistakes. We are not afraid to lose so we played our best. 

It has not gone unnoticed by many that Jia wears some stylish customised Badminton shoes styled with British cartoon creation ‘Winnie-the-Pooh’. When it was stated that they look very nice. She responded

-Thank-you. With them anything is possible.