Zuwen Zhang, who is the best chance for Team USA to win its first badminton medal, made it to the Round of 16.
Zhang won both of her matches in Group K. She beat Tiffany Ho (AUS) easily, 21-9, 21-4, and then she beat Nguyen Thuy Lin (VIE) in two close sets, 22-20, 22-20.
Zhang was born in China and moved to the U.S. in 2012. He became a citizen eight years later. She lives in Las Vegas and has played for the US in both of the last two Olympics.
It was Zhang’s win in the Round of 16 match in Tokyo when she tore her Achilles tendon and had to quit. Since then, she won the 2023 Australian Open. The final was held on the same day that she hurt herself at the Olympics, two years ago.
Now she has to wait to see who her opponent is. She wants to finish her comeback and get past the point where she had to quit the last Olympics.