Korea Open: Lee Chong Wei ends Lin Dan jinx to win Men’s Singles crown
Malaysia’s Lee Chong Wei finally gets his confidence back as after four months of quivering badminton he has defeated China’s Lin Dan in title match of the 2012 Korea Open Premier Super Series on Sunday, January 8, at Seoul, South Korea.
The 29-year-old Chong Wei, who is currently World Number One, has shut the mouth of critics by winning against his nemesis Lin, who is current Olympic and World Champion. With this win, the top seed has gained confidence and is back on the right track to
lead the Men’s Singles draw at the 2012 Olympic Games.
The fans from around the world always love to watch Chong Wei and Lin fighting for glory, as both are widely considered the best shuttlers in the world of badminton. The encounters between these two players are always entertaining and keep the crowd intact.
Same situation happened when both players faced each other in the final of Korea Open in Seoul.
Lin was in good prospects to win this match as he defeated the Malaysian in their last three meeting in last 4 months. However, Chong Wei was determined to end Lin Dan jinx and he proved it by playing to his maximum potential and emerged as the winner in
a 75-minute rubber set epic battle.
In the opening set, both shuttlers opened their campaign in a composed way. They did not make any mistake and pushed each other to all dimensions of the court. The score was 6-6 when the Chinese started to build lead. Chong Wei made a few unforced errors
which helped Lin to take a reasonable lead.
The Chinese player continued his wonderful run in the concluding part of the opening set as he was quite focused in the game. On the other hand, Chong Wei could not control the pace especially from the back-hand side of rear court. His straight smashes from
over-head position went wide of the court and he failed to stop Lin’s progress and eventually lost the game with a 12-21 score.
In the following set, both shuttlers pushed each other to the limit and a wonderful exchange of fast rallies kept the huge crowd intact. Many Malaysian fans were also there in the indoor arena to support their hero, Chong Wei. The World Number One elevated
his game in this set and remained slightly ahead of Lin until the break.
After the break in the second game, the Chinese shuttler played to his maximum potential and managed to dominate the rallies. However, the score remained tight until the ending points when the Malaysian delivered superb performance and won the set with a
21-18 score on the board.
In the final set, the score was tight in the opening rallies but soon Chong Wei took over the control. He found a wonderful tempo in this deciding game and started to dictate his rival in all areas of the court. Lin made numerous errors in this set which
helped his higher ranked Malaysian challenger to win the set with a one-sided score of 21-14.
Chong Wei won the 75-minute title match in a fabulous way by putting up a 12-21, 21-18 and 21-14 score on the board.
Chong Wei finds a perfect start in the opening week of 2012 and is looking forward to continue his impressive performance in the upcoming tournament of Malaysia Open Super Series, which will take place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from January 10-15. In this
home event, he will be a tough nut to crack for all top shuttler in the arena of badminton.
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