Lee So-hee, Baek Hana win women's doubles gold in badminton

ICHINOMIYA, Japan — Lee So-hee and Baek Hana teamed up for their first Asian Games gold medal in the women's doubles in badminton Tuesday, ending South Korea's 24-year title drought in the process. Lee and Baek, world No. 2, took down the top-ranked team from China, Lin Shengshu and Tan Ning, by the score of 2-1 (26-28, 21-18, 21-18) at Ichinomiya City Municipal Gymnasium in Ichinomiya, just northwest of the main host city, Nagoya. Lee and Baek are the first South Korean women's doubles tandem to reach the top of the Asiad podium since Ra Kyung-min and Lee Kyung-won in 2002. Lee and Baek won silver at the previous Asiad in 2023 after losing to Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan of China, and they beat a different Chinese team Tuesday to grab their first gold. This was the rematch of the world championships final from August, when Lee and Baek also prevailed for their first victory over Liu and Tan. This gold medal contest had the makings of an instant classic between the world's two best women's doubles teams. Down 18-17 in the first game, South Korea earned three straight points to set up a ga