"I think we were off to a good start today, but we didn't seize the opportunity to expand advantage from midway," Li said after the loss. "Our opponents posed a lot of challenges for us, and we made several unnecessary mistakes."

Talking about his Olympic debut, Li said it was a wonderful experience and he absolutely enjoyed the journey. "Of course there are regrets, but I think it is not easy to have come along this far," he added.

"We have been partners for so long and put a lot of effort into preparing for the Olympics. I hope this will not be our final stop and we can still go ahead hand in hand to Paris," Liu said.

Earlier in the day, Malaysia's Aaron Chia/Wooi Yik Soh beat Ahsan/Setiawan 17-21, 21-17, 21-14 to win the bronze.