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Chinese great Lin Dan extended his hold over Malaysia’s Lee Chong Wei yesterday as Wang Yihan partly avenged her stinging Olympic defeat by beating Li Xuerui to Asian Games gold. |
Lin and Lee were meeting in the men’s semi-finals but it had the tension of a title match as the Olympic champion beat his great rival 22-20, 12-21, 21-9.
In the women’s final, third-ranked Wang came from behind against Li to win 11-21, 21-17, 21-7 and snatch the gold medal away from her conqueror in the 2012 Olympics final.
And Indonesian fans erupted in joy when Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan beat home favourites Lee Yong-Dae and Yoo Yeon-Seong 21-16, 16-21, 21-17 for men’s doubles gold.
Reigning men’s champion Lin will face world title-holder Chen Long in Monday’s final after his Chinese stablemate beat Hong Kong’s Wei Nan 21-6, 21-10 in the other semi.
But it was heartbreak for Lee, playing his last Asian Games, who fought back from a game down but saw his final hopes of gold disappear as his challenge faded in the decider.
“He looked really confident in the third set and I could not follow him any more,” said Lee.
“I have done my best and I accept defeat. Now I’ll go back (home) and have a rest before the next tournament.”
The badminton legends’ semi-final was highly anticipated but it ended anticlimactically as Lin ran away with the third game.
Lin, 30, said he relished any chance to line up against Lee, whom he also beat in the 2010 final along with two Olympic and world title matches.
“I treasured this opportunity to play with Lee because it’s a year since we last met,” he said.
“I had some difficulties in the match, but I managed to change my attitude and mood,” said Lin.
In the all-Chinese women’s final, Li consistently put shots long or into the net against a stronger Wang, with the world number three taking the match 11-21, 21-17, 21-7.
“I made a lot of mistakes in the third game—Wang was playing well and I couldn’t beat her,” said Li.
Wang said Incheon brought her luck, after she stretched winning streak over world number one Li to four matches.
“I have played here many times, always with good results. Korea is a very lucky place for me.”
Indonesia’s Tontowi Ahmad and Liliyana Natsir prevented another all-Chinese final in the mixed doubles after thrashing Ma Jin and Xu Chen 21-12, 21-10 in the semis.
Top-ranked Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei had an easier ride against unseeded Indonesians Praveen Jordan and Debby Susanto, winning 21-19, 21-17 in the other semi.