|
Chinese superstar Lin Dan took the badminton World Badminton Championships title for a fifth time yesterday after his arch rival Lee Chong Wei was stretchered off the court in the third game. In the women’s singles teenage Thai Ratchanok Intanon won her first badminton world championship title when she upset Olympic champion Li Xuerui in the singles to end China’s decade of domination in the event. |
Ratchanok, 18, beat Li 22-20 18-21 21-14 in Guangzhou, China, to become the first Thai to win the world championship and first non-Chinese woman since Denmark’s Camilla Martin lifted the title at home in 1999. World number one Li led 19-12 in the opening set but Ratchanok came storming back to take it 22-20, the first set the Chinese had dropped all week. Ratchanok nudged ahead 15-14 in the tight second before Li recovered to force a decider which the Thai was always in control of.
Her victory comes weeks after Thailand suffered its darkest day in the sport when former doubles partners Maneepong Jongjit and Bodin Issara brawled on court in the final of the Canadian Open, leading to lengthy bans.
In the first final of five at the Tianhe Sports Center, controversial duo Wang Xiaoli and Yu Yang, who were kicked out of the London Olympics in the play-to-lose scandal, claimed the women’s doubles title over Jang Ye-na and Eom Hye-won of South Korea. The Chinese top seeds won 21-14 18-21 21-8 to retain the title they won in London two years ago in what home fans had predicted would be the first of four titles for the world’s most populous nation.
However, Ratchanok then beat Li before Chinese top seeds Chen Xu and Jin Ma were beaten 21-13 16-21 22-20 by Tontowi Ahmad and Liliyana Natsir of Indonesia in the mixed doubles.
The current men’s world number one from Malaysia’s Lee Chong Wei dropped to his haunches at 19-16 down and then tried to recover. But he had to retire from the match at 20-17 — leaving Lin, who is world and Olympic champion, to take the title 16-21, 21-13, 20-17. “It would appear that he suffered some cramps and he has subsequently been taken to hospital,” said Gayle Alleyne, communications manager for badminton’s world body the BWF at a press conference after the match. Lee had been hoping to end a run of high-profile defeats at the hands of Lin—widely regarded as the game’s best-ever player—who beat him in the previous world title men’s singles final and in the two last Olympic finals.
Lin, 29, known as “Super Dan”, was making his comeback at the tournament with a controversial wildcard place after a year on the sidelines to spend time with his family.
The two badminton legends put on a brilliant display in the first set in front of a packed Tianhe gymnasium in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou. “Both Chong Wei and I did a good job—it’s a pity he could not last until the end,” Lin said after the match.
“He got this cramp out there and it reminded me of my training—when you have that, you cannot move at all. From that moment we were not opponents any more. I really wanted to help and I went over to ask if he was OK. He didn’t want to give up.” Lin’s victory sealed a day in which China won only two of a possible four medals after sweeping all the titles at the last two world championships and at the London Olympics. “If I had lost we would only have won one gold medal and it would have been embarrassing,” said Lin. “The good thing is I’m not the head coach.”
Lin took an early lead against Lee, leaving the crowd gasping with an almost involuntary lightning reflex return at the net to go 5-3 up. The return was so quick that he hardly seemed to know about it himself. Lee got back on level terms but Lin got the better of a titanic rally to go into the break leading 11-10. The two stayed neck and neck, showing off their best badminton—a nimble Lee leaping around the court and Lin moving fluidly often at full stretch to reach the Malaysian’s well-placed shots. Lee pulled ahead with Lin berating himself after putting a return long to go behind 14-18, and the Malaysian capitalised to take the first game. Lin came out fighting in the second, romping to a merciless 11-1 lead with Lee leaving shots to go long that dropped just in.
As the temperature soared in the stadium with the air conditioning seemingly off during the second game, the crowd fanned themselves furiously and Lee battled to catch up, but Lin took the second 21-13. Lee came out fighting in the third game with the temperature in the stadium still roasting hot. Lin winced as he hit the net again to drop 4-8 behind. But the defending champion battled back with precision shots to the baseline, sailing past Lee to go into the break 11-10 up.
Lin went 19-16 up in the third with a smash down the line and Lee crouched down on his haunches. Lee’s legs were sprayed by a doctor called onto the court, and he won the next point with lightning returns before dropping to the floor again in the middle of the next point. The crowd shouted his name in encouragement and Lin went over to his opponent’s side of the court to speak to him. But the umpire announced the Malaysian was retiring injured at 20-17, leaving a shirtless Lin to celebrate while Lee was stretchered off.