2011 BWF World Championships - Lin Dan’s road to glory
China’s Lin Dan, the most stylish and successful shuttler in the arena of badminton, has become the World Champion for the fourth time by winning the Men’s Singles title at the 2011 BWF World Championships. The event was held at the Wembley Arena, in London,
England. He defeated Malaysia’s Lee Chong Wei, who was the top seed in Men’s Singles category of the mega event.
The 27-year-old and World Number Two, Lin Dan, who is famous with the name of ‘Super Dan’, started his journey at the World Championships in a phenomenal way against Lithuania’s Kestutis Navickas. The Chinese played his usual game by keeping the pace high
and remained quick at the net. He appeared as the winner in the end with a one-sided margin of 21-11 and 21-10.
In the Men’s Singles second round, Super Dan played against Ireland’s talented shuttler, Scott Evans. The Irish played well in both sets of the match, but his effort was not enough to stop the Chinese from grabbing the victory. Evans played to his full potential
but the speed and stroke placement of the Chinese was just incredible. Lin played fast badminton against Evans in both sets and won the match without facing much trouble with the margin of 21-15 and 21-16.
In the Men’s Singles round-of-16, Lin took on Korea’s experienced shuttler, Lee Hyun Il, who is a famous player as he has many titles in his legacy. The World Number Two Chinese lifted up his level of play right from the start of the match against the Korean.
The ruling Olympic Champion, Lin played aggressive badminton with an incredible control of the bird and made his opponent work hard to pick the bird early. The power-play of Lin in both sets of the match worked in his favour and he remained successful in
winning the battle with the margin of 21-16 and 21-13.
In the quarter-final contest, Lin was up against Japan’s Sho Sasaki, a shuttler to whom the Chinese lost in the second round of the 2011 Indonesia Open Premier Super Series. However, this time the Chinese was in a different mood as he spared no chance at
all for the Japanese to play an attacking game. Lin was flying in the court without facing any problem and finished the straight-set quarter-final battle with the margin of 21-14 and 21-16.
In the semi-final showdown, the Chinese took on Denmark’s Peter Hoeg Gade, who is the most experienced and famous shuttler in whole Europe. It was an incredible fight between both elite shuttlers, as Gade won the opening set by playing to his maximum skill
but the Chinese fought back in the match and clinched the remaining two sets. He won the semi-final battle with the margin of 22-24, 21-7 and 21-15.
In the Men’s Singles final match, Lin was up against World Number One, Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia, who was also the top seed in the event. It was a dream final between two of the most celebrated and successful shuttlers in the arena of the sport. Chong Wei
got the advantage in the match by winning the first set, but Lin bounced back strongly and won the second game.
The final game was breath taking, as both elite shuttlers entered into the concluding phase without any lead. Chong Wei twice got the opportunity to win the match but he failed as Lin played phenomenal badminton at the end and won the final set.
The result of this Men’s Singles final battle was 20-22, 21-14 and 23-21. With this victory, Lin completed his road to glory at the mega event by becoming the four-time World Championship title holder.
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