Chen Long too good
I feel sorry for Lee Chong Wei, but Chen Long was just far too good. Chen Long scrambled for every shot with near-perfect court coverage. He is, in my view, the complete badminton player. Ironically LCW overcame his 'personal demon' of beating Lin Dan at the Olympics...but little did he realise that his real test awaited him in the final in the form of a much improved and stronger Chen Long.
As someone once said to me, if you find yourself in a bad position, you just have to be philosophical about it.
Of course Lee Chong Wei will be gutted and the whole of Malaysia will be hurting for him; however, on a positive note, who can boast of having three consecutive Olympic silver medals in the singles event? Not even Lin Dan can say he has three consecutive Olympic medals...
In any event, Lee Chong Wei didn't have the stamina to play any potential third set. Age had cruelly taken its toll. This was not his year to shine. If anything, 2012 was the ideal opportunity wasted as LCW was actually in the lead against Lin Dan in that infamous match.
Arguably, and most critically, Lee's real demon was not Lin Dan but the Olympic final itself and the fear of failing Malaysia (being their gold medal hope). It just so happened that Lin Dan personified the latter two in 2008 and 2012. By being so focussed on Lin Dan, the whole of Malaysia had forgotten the threat of Chen Long and to some extent took that match as already won.
:(
The wait continues for Malaysia. Goh and Tan must feel even more bad about their match now??!
On an unrelated note, at least Viktor Axelsen was happy with his Bronze.
Andre Lim
As someone once said to me, if you find yourself in a bad position, you just have to be philosophical about it.
Of course Lee Chong Wei will be gutted and the whole of Malaysia will be hurting for him; however, on a positive note, who can boast of having three consecutive Olympic silver medals in the singles event? Not even Lin Dan can say he has three consecutive Olympic medals...
In any event, Lee Chong Wei didn't have the stamina to play any potential third set. Age had cruelly taken its toll. This was not his year to shine. If anything, 2012 was the ideal opportunity wasted as LCW was actually in the lead against Lin Dan in that infamous match.
Arguably, and most critically, Lee's real demon was not Lin Dan but the Olympic final itself and the fear of failing Malaysia (being their gold medal hope). It just so happened that Lin Dan personified the latter two in 2008 and 2012. By being so focussed on Lin Dan, the whole of Malaysia had forgotten the threat of Chen Long and to some extent took that match as already won.
:(
The wait continues for Malaysia. Goh and Tan must feel even more bad about their match now??!
On an unrelated note, at least Viktor Axelsen was happy with his Bronze.
Andre Lim
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