BEIJING, Aug 15 (Bernama) - Shuttler Lee Chong Wei delivered Malaysia it's fourth Olympics medal when he rose above intense pressure to book himself into the men's singles final with a 21-18, 13-21, 21-13 victory over South Korea's Lee Hyun il Friday night.
The 26-year-old Lee sank down on the court with relief and rolled onto his back before sprinting up on his feet to hug coach Misbun Sidek as he broke a 12-year Olympic medal drought Malaysia has been facing.
"The final match is to fight for Malaysia. This win is for me and my coach who has worked so hard to train me," said Chong Wei after the hour-long duel at the Beijing University of Technology gymnasium.
The Malaysian, the number two seed, will meet either favourite Lin Dan or another Chinese rival, Chen Jin in the showdown for the gold on Sunday night.
Chong Wei, who is the first Malaysian singles shuttler to qualify for the final, can earn the biggest accolade in the nation's sports history if he captures the gold, the first ever for the country, which has a silver and two bronze from the Games, all from badminton.
Not to mention the RM1 million carrot that was announced by the government for the country's first Olympic gold.
"The win tonight has lifted the pressure off me finally because I have got a medal now. This is my biggest match win because it is the Olympics and for the final, I will stay focused," he said.
He confessed that he had less than six hours of sleep worried about Friday night's encounter in which he had an easy 21-18 first game against Lee who was making a lot of unforced errors.
"In the second game, I just could not catch up with his speed," said Chong Wei who lost 10 points in a row for Lee to surge ahead 16-6 and take it at 21-13 to force a decider.
The turning point in the third game came for Chong Wei was when he pulled away to a 15-10 lead.
"I was confident at that juncture and just took one point after another. We were both going for the net and he made many mistakes," said Chong Wei who delivered two smashes for match point and home.
The unranked Lee is considered one of the hardest players to beat currently. He broke China's Bao Chunlai, the third seed, in the quarterfinal to set up a date with Chong Wei.
Malaysia last returned from the Olympics with honours in 1996 with a silver from the doubles pair of Cheah Soon Kit and Yap Kim Hock and a bronze from singles, Rashid Sidek.
-- BERNAMA
No comments:
Post a Comment