Olympics 2012 badminton final : Lee
Chong Wei vs Lin Dan - A story of hope and despair
Lin Dan known as the king of badminton, even a person having
little knowledge about badminton knows that who is Lin Dan , a legend in
badminton who achieved more than everything in this game what a normal
badminton player can only imagine. There is nothing he hasn’t won , no barrier
he hasn’t broken.
On the other hand
there is another man, another legend, a never give up warrior- Lee Chong Wei, who is not considered as the king , who
is not the big champion , who didn’t get what he deserved. Before 2012
olympics if there is one player who has
been able to beat Lin Dan , it was Lee Chong Wei.
Following table shows
a brief comparison of Lin Dan’s and Lee
Chong Wei’s achievements in badminton before 2012 Olympics
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Lin Dan
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Lee Chong Wei
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2008 Olympics gold medalist
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2008 Olympics silver medalist(runner up)
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4 times world champion
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2 times runner up at world championships(lost to
Lin)
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5 times All England champion
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2 times All England champion
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|
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From the above table one can see,
what Lin Dan achieved that Lee Chong Wei lost.
Lee Chong Wei , a name in the
badminton world which is famous more by his losses at major events to Lin Dan
as compared to his achievements.
He lost at 2008 Olympics finals to Lin Dan, two times at world
championships (second major event in badminton after Olympics) to Lin Dan
again.
Even after staying at no.1 for
298 weeks continuously, winning a number of superseries events in badminton ,
Lin Dan always defeated him at major event finals and consistently came of top.
Olympics 2012 also was one of the such story
of failure of this Malasian which completely broke him up after the match.
Match started with an immense crowd of
Malasian and Chinese fans surrounding the badminton court and waiting to see
their heroes ,supporting them for the victory. There happens the entry of the
super Dan and the great Chong Wei.
China vs Malasia – A rivalry that goes beyond sport
To understand the Chong Wei-Lin rivalry, we must recognize the
weight of politics and history between the two nations. In recent years, Chong
Wei has come to represent, whether he likes it or not, Malaysia’s aspirations
beyond just the sporting arena. He plays not just for himself, but for all of
Malaysia. They see his success as theirs; and consequently, his failures too
become theirs.
Lin is one of China’s
many superstars, and he probably doesn’t feel the weight of his people’s
aspirations as keenly as Chong Wei. Lin is the most accomplished badminton
singles player of all time. There is nothing he has not won; no barrier he has
not broken. In recent years, if there is one player who has been able to beat
him in Superseries events, it is Chong Wei. However, in the events that really
matter, such as the Olympics or the World Championships, Lin has consistently
come on top.
How I watched
the match
It was my first international
badminton match experience as an audience. Although I had seen Lee Chong Wei
earlier winning Olympics 2012 semifinal match easily against another Chinese
player Chen long. So I had this dim vision in my mind about Lee Chong Wei like
he is very dangerous badminton player, who cann’t be defeated for sure. So after
watching the Olympics semifinal I was thinking about the final and wondering about
how other Olympics finalist could look like or how dangerous he would be, will he
play better than Chong wei, if yes then how could he be able to do that, when
Chong Wei was playing flawless.
These thoughts led me to watch
the Olympics men singles final .
When I firstly watched Lin Dan in
the final he looked like a Chinese samurai to me. And that situation in the
match was giving me a feel of a revenge movie like a chinese player had come to
avenge his another chinese friend who was defeated by Lee Chong Wei.
The match started with umpire announcing the
names of two legends of badminton. Lin Dan was looking quite focused with an
attitude that I am the winner. On the other hand lee was looking quite tense ,
anxious and focused as this title was meant something more for him as compared
to lin Dan. He took the first game easily from Lin as I expected . He played
extraordinary flawless badminton in the first game . Malaysian crowd got up
from their seats , cheering for their hero .
But here comes the next phase of
the game , Lin Dan fought back taking the second game . Malaysian’s spirits
went down accordingly and Chinese fans found their voice.
The third and deciding
game was nerve-racking. At 19-18, with Chong Wei leading, a rally
ensued—probing strokes, each challenging a response from the other. A high toss
from Lin Dan, and Chong Wei, at the backcourt, suddenly decided to let it fall.
It was an incredible piece of poor judgement. The shuttle fell in. Chong Wei
had gifted Lin Dan a point when each point had the price of blood and sweat.
A hush among the
Malaysian supporters. They had seen this so many times. They prayed, but
nothing could stop the inevitable. Lin Dan had won his second successive
Olympic gold medal. How much more could destiny reward one man? Chong Wei sank
to his knees—and one almost expected that of him too.
One fan died of a heart
attack after watching the match. How will Malaysia recover from this blow?
One should have seen the eyes of the Malasians on that day. You could
see every emotion in those eyes—anxiety, fear , happiness. Sometimes you could
even detect two contrasting emotions at the same moment—hope and fear.
It was the day their hero lost the most important match of his career,
and this match will probably be talked about a decade later too.
Now “Super Dan” was a four-time World Champion and twice Olympic
gold medallist.
What I felt about the match?
I didn’t understand the match or the rivalry
of these two players properly at that time as it was my first match. But I was
quite sad though because I didn’t want Lee to loose . I found myself connected
with him somewhere . May be it was because I had watched him in one more match,
or may be he was looking innocent ,decent all the time and never shown the bad
attitude throughout the match, or may be I couldn’t see that disappointment on
his face at the end of match. Whatever it was I felt very very sorry for him .
After the match I went on
researching the whole history of these two players and I was shocked when I came
to know everything about these two.
Lee being the world no. 1 for continuously
for 298 weeks but never won at these major events like Olympics and world
championships. How could destiny betray a man all the time and reward another
all the time , these thoughts were revolving inside my head for sometime .
But after this match whatever were the
situations , I found this game more and more interesting . I started watching
videos like how could I improve my badminton skills and applying everything in
the game whatever I learnt from this .
Everytime I watch this match I find
it interesting and inspiring and everytime I hope for Lee Chong wei’s victory
at the end of the match and always close the video before the end because I don’t
want to see that desperation on his face again.
I know Lee lost to Lin two times
consecutively Olympics but this man gave
his best in the game .He deserved the title at 2012 Olympics but sometimes life
doesn’t play fair with you.
After this match I have a number
of his matches and he inspired me and made me love badminton more and more . He
is a never give up warrior and he will remain best badminton player for me .
I hope a great future for you Lee
and I hope u will fulfill your dream of winning gold at Olympics 2016.
Wish u best of luck
Lee Chong Wei
