Chong Wei defeats Gade to win maiden India Open

NEW DELHI, May 1 (Bernama): World No 1 Datuk Lee Chong Wei pulled off a crucial win against Danish veteran Peter Hoeg Gade in an entertaining India Open Super Series finals at the Siri Fort Sports Complex today.

Though the Malaysian won the first set 12-21, the stubborn Danish forced him to slog in the remaining two sets before surrendering the title, which the former had been aiming for some time.

"It was a tough game. I lost focus in the second set. At 34, Peter is still a good player, he never gives up until the end.

"This stadium is lucky (brings luck), hope I will come back to India to play in the next super series," Chong Wei told the media at the same venue where he had won two gold medals at the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games last October.

In the hour-long tussle, he combined his elegant stroke plays, powerful smashes and mental strength to contain Gade, who had lost 10 times in previous 11 ties against the Malaysian ace.

Gade quite easily grabbed the second set 21-12 as an out-of-focus Chong Wei slackened and lost balance, especially after the Dane dominated from 8-11 onwards. But the stoical Malaysian quickly turned around the third set to his advantage, ending the match at 21-15 and collected his third super series titles this year, and shared the US$200,000 (RM600,000) prize money.

"I played against the best player in the world. It is all about confidence and when he (Chong Wei) is confident, he is unbeatable.

"I had a chance to win after winning the second set, I gave everything but he was unbeatable today," said the world sixth-ranked Gade.

Posted by Lucas Liau on 9:11 AM. Filed under Latest News . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0