OLYMPIC MS Final – Lin takes another gold!

Lin Dan won his repeat Olympic final as Lee Chong Wei made him work but once again came up with silver in the end.

By Don Hearn, Badzine Correspondent.  Photos: Badmintonphoto (archives)

On Sunday at Wembley Arena, Lin Dan (pictured) joined the elite company of five of his compatriots – Ge Fei, Gu Jun, Zhang Jun, Gao Ling, and Zhang Ning – by winning gold at two consecutive Olympics.  In Lin’s case, it even came at the expense of the same – also very elite – silver medallist.

What was obviously very different this time was the scoreline.  Beaten badly in Beijing, Lee Chong Wei (pictured below) played nothing like one might expect two months after a seriously troubling injury and instead took the great Lin Dan right down to the wire before the Chinese legend won it 15-21, 21-10, 21-19.

“My mind is blank right now.  I am very, very happy,” said Lin Dan after winning the final.  “This medal is confirmation of all my hard work since 2008.  It is very tough being a Chinese player because we work so hard and sacrifice so much.

“I wasn’t thinking too much during the match. I just wanted to give it my all and try my best.

“I really hope badminton isn’t affected by the disqualifications in this tournament.  This medal is a confirmation of the sport.  I hope that my performance and Lee’s performance today is evidence of that.”

Altogether two Lees down

In the bronze medal match, Lee Hyun Il also suffered the same fate as in Beijing, the only difference being that it was Chen Long, rather than Chen Jin, who beat him out for the bronze medal.  The Korean, too, put in a much more competitive performance four years on, taking the second game from Chen.

“Everyone attending the Olympics wants to achieve their best results,” said Chen Long (pictured left) after winning bronze.  “Yesterday’s performance was not to my best ability. There are regrets [but] I’m still very happy.”

Asked what his next goal was, Chen replied, “Rest well.  Last year I went through some downtime.  My next goal is to get singles gold.”

While Lee Hyun Il also retired immediately following the Beijing Olympics, this time, it will undoubtedly be permanent as there has never been a 36-year-old shuttler on the Korean national squad.

Men’s singles results
Gold medal match:  Lin Dan (CHN) [2] bt Lee Chong Wei (MAS) [1]  15-21, 21-10, 21-19
Bronze medal match:  Chen Long (CHN) [3] bt Lee Hyun Il (KOR) [7]  21-12, 15-21, 21-15