Chong Wei gets chance to avenge Olympic loss to Lin Dan

Posted by Lucas Liau Lee Chong Wei, News 10:11 AM

PETALING JAYA: World No. 1 men’s singles player Lee Chong Wei and Olympic champion Lin Dan came through gruelling semi-final matches yesterday to set up a tantalising showdown in the China Open in Shanghai.

Women’s doubles pair Wong Pei Tty-Chin Eei Hui equalled Chong Wei’s feat when they too reached the China Open final for the first time.

It was, however, a sad end for the men’s doubles pairing of Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong, who bowed out in the semi-finals.

Chong Wei allowed South Korea’s Park Sung-hwan to dictate terms in the early stages of their semi-final clash and duly lost the first game 17-21.

But there was no stopping the Malaysian after that as he carved out a 21-8, 21-7 win in 53 minutes to earn his second successive China Open final.

Chong Wei was beaten by Bao Chunlai in the final last year and will be facing a much tougher adversary in Lin Dan.

Lin Dan has not played in any tournament since the Beijing Olympics, where he crushed Chong Wei in the final.

Chong Wei will definitely have to raise his game today if he harbours hopes of beating Lin Dan in his own backyard.

The Malaysian, however, can take heart from the fact that the three-month lay-off has taken the sting out of Lin Dan’s game.

Lin Dan faced his toughest test yet against Chinese junior Wen Kai, slogging for 59 minutes before booking his place in the final with a 21-17, 18-21, 21-17 win.

National singles coach Misbun Sidek was happy that Chong Wei had achieved his objective of making the final in his bid to keep his world No. 1 ranking.

“Sung-hwan’s strategy was to attack from the start. If Chong Wei had been impatient, he would have fallen into his opponent’s trap. But he was not rattled and I am happy it ended well,” said Misbun in a telephone interview from Shanghai yesterday.

“Tomorrow (today) is a repeat of the Olympic final but in a different environment. The pressure is not that enormous and I hope Chong Wei can put up a good fight.

“Lin Dan has played all the Chinese players so far and he has not brought out his full explosive attacking armoury yet. But his performance is stable and it’s not easy taking him on.”

In the women’s doubles, Eei Hui-Pei Tty will have a good opportunity to bag their second Super Series title of the year after beating the second-ranked Korean pair of Ha Jung-eun-Kim Min-jung 21-13, 11-21, 21-13.

Eei Hui-Pei Tty, who claimed their first international Open title when they won the Japan Open two months ago, will meet Chinese fifth seeds Zhang Yawen-Zhao Tingting in today’s final.

Yawen-Tingting sent compatriots and Olympic champions Du Jing-Yu Yang packing 21-18, 18-21, 21-14 in the semi-finals.

Eei Hui-Pei Tty will enjoy a psychological edge over Yawen-Tingting, having beaten them to reach the French Open final earlier this month.