Malaysia’s badminton star Lee Chong Wei won his 11th Malaysian Open title yesterday, a much-needed boost for his pursuit of a still-elusive Olympic gold medal. Lee cruised to victory with a flurry of devastating smashes against world number one Chen Long from China, beating him 21-13, 21-8 in a match that lasted 42 minutes. The world number four shuttler was in fine form for the Malaysian competition after suffering early exits in the All England Championships and India Open in March.
“Many critics have said that I should retire after some poor performances. But I know within myself that I am capable of still producing the goods at the highest level and this win was the proof of that,” said Lee, 33. “I am happy to win another title here and this triumph certainly boosts my spirits ahead of the Olympics.”
Chen called Lee a role model for young Malaysian shuttlers and said he was happy to have qualified for the final. “It is not easy for a player at his age to maintain a high-level performance year-in, year-out and you can see the crowd really appreciated that,” said Chen.  “I felt I played well, but it was my first time playing in this court and perhaps the drift was too strong.”
Lee had missed last year’s edition because of a suspension after testing positive for a banned anti-inflammatory substance at the world championships in Copenhagen in 2014. But in April last year the Badminton World Federation said the former long-time world number one had “accidentally” ingested the substance and handed him an eight-month backdated ban, which effectively allowed him to resume his career.
Lee, one of Malaysia’s most popular sports stars, has repeatedly fallen short in his pursuit of the sport’s top prizes—the world and Olympic titles—despite reaching three world championship finals and two Olympic deciders. But he has set his sights firmly on crowning his career by winning his first Olympic title in Rio de Janeiro.
Meanwhile, Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon lived up to her own high expectations clinching the women’s singles title. The 21-year-old, who won the Indian Open last week, was aiming for a second straight title for the first time in her career. Victory never looked in doubt for the 2013 world champion as she stamped her class over the off-colour Tai Tzu-ying of Taiwan, winning 21-14, 21-15 at the Malawati Stadium.
It was her first senior title on Malaysian soil since winning the World Junior Championships in 2009 and she is also the first Thai woman since Pratuang Pattabongse in 1959 to win the Malaysian Open. And Ratchanok is now setting the bar even higher – by aiming for the world No 1 spot. She is the world No 4 now, but the win here should see her move two rungs up to No 2 behind Spain’s Carolina Marin. “I’m really happy to win my first senior title in Malaysia and also my second successive title,” said Ratchanok. “After beating Wang Yihan for the first time (in 13 meetings), I felt more confident. Now my aim is to be the world No. 1. I should move up to No. 2 after this, but my points will be very close to Marin.
“It would be a huge confidence boost for me since I’m also aiming to win a medal at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in August.”
Ratchanok’s win also means she has taken two of the season’s three Superseries titles so far. Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara won the other – the All-England. It has thrown the race for the Olympic gold medal wide open, with Ratchanok, Okuhara, Marin and India’s Saina Nehwal all strong contenders.
“Previously, China used to be always strong in women’s singles. Now everyone is improving so fast,” said Ratchnok.


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