Badminton: Lee sets up showdown with Lin Dan

Badminton: Lee sets up showdown with Lin Dan

By RAJES PAUL
the staronline

PETALING JAYA: National top men’s singles shuttler Lee Chong Wei has a chance to prove that his poor showing in the recent World Championships is a one-off thing when he takes on world champion Lin Dan of China in the semi-finals of the Japan Open in Tokyo today.

Yesterday, Chong Wei blew away China’s Chen Jin 21-7, 21-16 in a 34-minute quarter-final match to set up a clash with world number one Lin Dan.
Chong Wei put up an impressive show in the first game but Chen Jin bounced back to take a 16-12 lead in the second. But within minutes, Chong Wei regained his touch to romp home for a 21-16 win.

Lin Dan, who is seeking a three-year unbeaten run in the Japan Open, continued his winning ways by beating Denmark’s Peter Gade-Christensen 21-16, 21-19 in another quarter-final match.
On paper, Lin Dan has a higher percentage of winning the match against world number four Chong Wei today and national coach Misbun Sidek agreed that it would be a tough hurdle to clear.

“The one difference that I see in Chong Wei here is his calmness. This is unlike the Chong Wei we saw during the World Championships,” said Misbun in a telephone interview from Tokyo yesterday.
At the World Championships in Kuala Lumpur last month, Chong Wei played poorly and was beaten in the third round by Indonesian Sony Dwi Kuncoro.
“Chong Wei has his own identity on court. He is now playing smart badminton and applies the right strategy against his opponents. And when some of his shots do not work, he quickly changes them like how he did against Chen Jin in the second game today.”

Misbun said he would not make it a big deal if Chong Wei loses today.
“I am happy he has reached the semi-finals again (Chong Wei also reached the Japan Open semi-finals last year). Lin Dan is the favourite. But it will probably mean much more to Chong Wei personally if he wins tomorrow. It will surely make up for his defeat at the world meet,” said Misbun. “For me, I just hope that Chong Wei will remain calm and maintain his composure throughout the match tomorrow.”

For the record, Chong Wei defeated Lin Dan in a group tie at the Sudirman Cup in Glasgow in June this year. But the Chinese exacted sweet revenge by beating Chong Wei at last month’s China Masters semi-finals. The other semi-final will be an all-Indonesian affair between Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat and Simon Santoso.