In a twist of fate, the Aussies opponents are the same pair that defeated Australian pair Becchara Palmer and Nikki Laird to win the continental qualification tournament and the last ticket to Tokyo in June.  

Like Clancy and Artacho del Solar, the Chinese pair won two and lost one of their pool games to progress to the round of 16. 

Xue is at her third Olympics, winning bronze in Beijing 2008, while Wang is making her Olympic debut, with the duo seeded. The pair showed their class by beating the 11th seeded Dutch duo and 16th seeded Spaniards to book their round of 16 matchup with the Aussies. 

The Australian pair have faced Xue and Wang once before, with the Australians victorious in a World Tour matchup in Ostrava in 2019, winning in straight sets. 

Artacho del Solar was excited to move into the knockout stages of the Olympic tournament. 

“They’re a great team, it's going to be a fight but I'm ready for it.

“Chen is an Olympic medallist with a lot of experience and Xinxin is a very good player and a left hander which throws up another challenge. 

 
“We’ve met once before but that was years ago, they’ve improved since then, we’ve improved since then, this is a whole new team. 

“The knockout stages are so exciting, it’s all or nothing now. We’re treating every game like it’s own tournament, both teams will want it and we just have to give absolutely everything we have – we’ll be ready.”  

Clancy was focused on stepping up now the knockout stages have begun. 

“This is where the tournament really starts,” Clancy said. “It gets really exciting and I know our best play is still to come.” 

The game will commence at 9pm local time (10pm AEST) at Shokaze Park on Sunday 1 August, with the winner progressing to the quarter-finals. 

Dominic Sullivan