BWF Super Series Finals: Lin Dan narrowly wins his first battle against Chen Long in Group B
China’s top seed and World Number Two in the Men’s Singles category, Lin Dan, had to dig deep to defeat his younger compatriot, Chen Long, in his first match of Group B in the 2011 BWF Super Series Finals, on Wednesday, December 14, in China.
The ruling World and Olympic Champion, Lin, had to work extra hard to beat his in-form team-mate, Long, in a thrilling fight. The experienced Chinese won the match in three games by taking 61 minutes in the court. Long played well in the whole match but
failed to finish it as he lost the final set with a close difference.
Lin played well in the opening set and finished it with a good score. However, Long put up superb show in the second game and took it with a narrow score. In the deciding game, Lin remained composed and worked hard to finish it with a decent score and stamped
victory over Long.
Lin started to play with a wonderful speed in the starting points and executed powerful drives to keep his opponent moving in all areas of the court. Long tried to play aggressive badminton and remained equal until the score reached at 12-12. At this stage,
Lin accelerated his speed and played with superb aggression to end the game with a 21-15 score.
In the following game, the younger Chinese played better this time as his net play was impressive. Until the break in the second set, Long was moving ahead of Lin at 11-8. After the break, Lin accelerated his speed and remained successful in levelling the
score at 19-19, but committed a mistake and lost the set with a 19-21 score.
In the final set, Lin played wonderful game from the starting points and spared no chance for Long to catch up the pace of the rallies. His planned and composed badminton in the whole deciding game maintained pressure on Long, who failed to focus in the
game.
Lin finished the set with a decent 21-17 score on the board. The final score of this 61-minute Men’s Singles three-set contest was 21-15, 19-21 and 21-17.
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