Gronya Somerville and Setyana Mapasa have caused a badminton boilover in their Tokyo Olympics finale, while fellow Australian Hsuan-Yu Wendy Chen also secured a hard-fought win.
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Somerville and Mapasa started Tuesday's group clash with Danes Maiken Fruergaard and Sara Thygesen knowing it would be their last match of the tournament.
The stakes were higher for Fruergaard and Thygesen, who were gunning for a quarter-final berth after upsetting fourth seeds Lee Sohee and Shin Seungchan on Sunday.
But the underdogs prevailed 21-19 13-21 21-12 in a contest spanning 64 minutes.
"I don't know if it's the biggest (win of my career), but happening at the Olympics is pretty special," Somerville said.
"This will really encourage us for our matches and tournaments in the future.
"We've been pretty disappointed with our performances so far.
"We just wanted to try and show our best.
"So to finish on a win and to have played some good badminton for all of our family and friends in Melbourne and Australia to watch is very special."
Thygesen said "the nerves were all on our side and they just made it difficult for us".
Chen, Australia's only singles badminton competitor in Tokyo, defeated Bulgarian Linda Zetchiri 21-16 20-22 21-8.
Denmark's 13th seed Mia Blichfeldt, who beat Chen in straight games, faces Zetchiri on Wednesday and is set to be the pool's top-ranked competitor progressing.
Australian Associated Press
