Lin Dan wins Badminton Olympic Gold

World No. 1 Lin Dan crushed Malaysia’a Golden hopes by trashing World No. 2 Lee Chong Wei 21-12, 21-8 to win the Men’s Singles Badminton Olympic Gold.

There were a lot of buzz and hype about the finals, but to me the game ( I mean Chong Wei) did not live to the expectations. Lin Dan proved his dominance with very forceful strokes and with his lightning court coverage. He studied every move Chong Wei made and he was quick to react to every shot to his advantage. Lee Chong Wei did not have any answers to “Super” Dan on that day.
“I felt a lot of pressure playing in front of my home crowd,” said an exhilarated Lin. “I thought it would be difficult to play the match and the pressure of the crowd might even be to my disadvantage, but I played well.” All credits to Lin Dan for that superb performance and for rising to the occasion. This is what makes him a world champion.


Lin Dan winning the gold medal

On the other hand, if we look at Lee Chong Wei, when he was entering the court, he had that nervous look on his face. In my mind I asked the question, “A world No. 2 showing his nervousness before the game? How can this be?” We were always thought to enter the court like a Tiger (Like what Lin Dan did).

“I suffered a lot of pressure tonight but I do not want to use it as an excuse for my defeat,” Chong Wei said. What a statement… To me, I think Lin Dan had more pressure on his hands than Chong Wei did.

“I have tried my best but Lin Dan played perfectly tonight,” said Malaysian sport icon Lee. “I couldn’t match his shuttle speed. He was much stronger than me and controlled the whole match.” That’s a good thing, he gives praises when its due.


“At the end of the match it is not who is playing at a higher level, it is all about who is mentally stronger,” Lee commented on his loss. Again, why isn’t Chong Wei mentally stronger than or as strong mentally as Lin Dan? After all he’s the world no. 2. I can’t recall if I’ve seen Nadal never looking nervous when he played Federer and neither should Chong Wei. It shows what kind of mental strength the Malaysians have. To me, they can’t handle pressure, hence why we only managed 1 silver.

I would like to end on some reason’s on Why Lin Dan had more pressure on his hands:
1. China’s target was to get 3 gold medals. Less than that it would be a failure. If Lin Dan lost, it would be a failure for China.

2. Lin Dan had 6,800 supporters in the stadium watching and expecting him to win. On top of that, I dont know how many million Chinese were watching the game supporting Lin Dan.

3. Lin Dan lost to Chong Wei in the Thomas Cup, more pressure for him to win.


Ciao da mao
Mark

Lee Hyo-jung and Lee Yong-dae grabs South Korea’s Badminton Gold

South Korea’s Lee Hyo-jung and Lee Yong-dae won Korea’s only Badminton gold medal in mixed doubles badminton. They defeated Indonesia’s Liliyana Natsir and Nova Widianto 21-11, 21-17.
The Korean’s were seen playing some good defence as the Indonesian’s found it hard to gain points through smashes. On top of that the Korean’s played a good mix of speed and intelligent net play which contributed to their victory.

Lee Hyojung and Lee Yongdae celebrating

Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan wins the Men's Doubles

Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan won Indonesia's first gold medal in the Men's Doubles of the Beijing Olympics 2008. They put up a fantastic display of badminton doubles silencing the Chinese supporters in the second and third game to win 21, 21-11 and 21-16 over Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng.

This was one of the best doubles matches I've seen Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan play as they had a very good understanding between them and they played a very very very attacking game. The Indonesian's started off slowly losing the first game with the Chinese crowd behind the Chinese pair at every point. However in the second and third game, the Indonesians pulled themselves together and decided to push the game to 6th gear by playing an agrresive attacking style all the way. The indonesians fed each other from the front of the net, forcing the Chinese pair to lift the shuttle allowing the Hendra or Markis to produce hard smashes to win.

I felt that the key element which contributed to the success of the Indonesians was the fact that they did not lift the shuttle much and they were much faster in fornt of the net. When Hendra was playing in front of the net, he anticipated every shot that the opponent hit and covered the front very well. He droved many shots to the opponents body and empty court spaces which lead to the Indonesian's winning a lot of shots from the front of the net. They took the third set with ease to be crowed the Badminton Doubles Champion in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

South Korea's Lee Jae Jin and Hwang Ji Man won the bronze medal.

Hendra Setiawan and Markis Kido with the gold medals (Photo credit: Getty Images)

If you've missed the game, you can catch it here.

Mens Doubles Gold Medalist: Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan
Mens Doubles Silver Medalist: Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng
Mens Doubles Bronze Medalist: Lee Jae Jin and Hwang Ji Man

Zhang Ning retains Beijing Olympic Singles Gold

We don't find many people defending their Olympic Badminton titles. "Smashing" Zhang Ning, now 33 years of age, defended her Olympic Singles title as she managed to beat current world no.1 and fellow Chinese star Xie Xingfang 21-12 10-21 and 21-18.


Zhang Ning in action against Xie Xingfang (Photo credit: Lars Baron/Getty Images)




Xie Xingfang in action against Zhang Ning (Photo credit: Lars Baron/Getty Images)



Zhang Ning celebrates her victory. (Photo credit: Lars Baron/Getty Images)



Zhang Ning poses with her gold medal. (Photo credit: Lars Baron/Getty Images)

It was Zhang's final Olympic appearance and she produced a remarkable game to overcome her younger competitor. Zhang looked tired after losing the second set; however she showed some great mental strength to maintain her focus in the game and to produce some great badminton display throughout the game. It was one of those days where both players were fighting each other, point for point and in the final set and the game could have gone either way. In the final few points of the game, we could see Zhang's tiredness showing but her determination to win was stronger than Xingfang as she maintained her composure and continued to play more aggressively with attacking lobs, chops, smashes and sharp net plays which lead to her crowing of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Badminton Women's Singles Champion.


"After Athens I didn't think about participating in Beijing," said second seed Zhang following her victory.


"I'm 33 years old and I made it to the finals - I believe it was tenacity that got me this gold medal." said Zhang. Personally I admire people like her as role models to the sport. She has great sportsmanship and a humble personality. She reminds me of Andre Agassi who proved that with determination and the right mind, age is just a number.

Credit to Xie Xingfang too for producing a fine display of badminton throughout the tournament. It is Xingfangs first ever Olympics and I'm not too sure if she will still be playing in the next Olympics in London. In an earlier interview Xingfang has said that she wants to retire from badminton one day to live a normal life, "cooking soup" for Lin Dan when get gets back. :) however I'm not too sure when.


China missed a clean sweep of the women's singles medals when Indonesia's Maria Kristin Yulianti took bronze. Congrats to Maria for the bronze! She had a great tournament with a great run; upsetting the many seeded players who came in her way.

Womens Singles Gold Medalist: Zhang Ning
Womens Singles Silver Medalist: Xie Xingfang
Womens Singles Bronze Medalist: Maria Kristen

Check out Zhang Ning's road to Beijing here.

Catch Zhangs victory thanks to BBC UK.

Lee Chong Wei smashes into the finals

WEI TO GO - Our young “Skywalker” Lee Chong Wei brings smiles and hopes for all Malaysians as he carries our flag to the finals of the Men’s Singles in the Beijing Badminton Olympic Finals.

He marches on with a smashing win over Lee Hyunil 21-18, 13-21 and 21-13. Lee Chong Wei in on top form with that steady win in the Semi Finals. Overall you can see that Chong Wei has been preparing well for this tournament; you can see it from his fitness (how he is able to take every shot) and the confidence he has to play every stroke that comes to his mind. I think Chong Wei has a better chance of winning the finals compared to Lin Dan as Chong Wei looks to be in a better shape overall. To all those reading this, do post a comment on the finals and how do you think Chong Wei will do.





I’ve found a YouTube clip of Chong Wei’s Beijing Dream for you Badmiton and Chong Wei fans out there.. If you want to see him training, check out my earlier post…



No matter what happens, Chong Wei is bagging RM 300,000.00 from the government for a Silver and RM 1,000,000.00 for the Gold. That’s a lot of money and it would be a motivation for Chong Wei to win. However I know that Chong Wei wants to create Malaysian History as the first Malaysian Gold Medalist and the money reward is just a bonus to winning. I just hope he manages to take the pressure mentally and overcome the Chinese supporters in the finals!

C ya in the finals!

Badminton’s billionaire fan

This is quite suprising to me that this man knows and watches badminton? Have a read!

By the Associated Press
Posted Monday, August 11, 2008 1:27 PM ET

Getty Images
Bill Gates enjoying badminton and a badminton fan

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates took in a little badminton on Monday. Gates sat in the VIP seats at Beijing University of Technology Gymnasium with his wife, Melinda, and watched the second round of men’s singles when China’s Bao Chunlai defeated Guatemala’s Kevin Cordon 21-17, 21-16 in the second round of men’s singles.

“It was great, I was very impressed,” Gates told reporters afterward. Asked if he was a fan of the game, Gates said: “I am now.” During the match Gates wrote in the Badminton World Federation’s signature book: “Badminton is great.”

On Monday the Gates’ also attended the third day of swimming events at the National Aquatics Center on Monday, where they sat directly behind President George W. Bush. The President was there with his wife Laura, daughter Barbara and entourage of Secret Service agents posing as fans.

Sitting directly in front of the Bush family was Mitt Romney and his wife Ann. Before serving as Governor of Massachusetts , Romney ran the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.

Bao Chunlai and Gail EMMS / Nathan ROBERTSON journey in Beijing ends..

Being the 3rd seed in the Men's Singles, I expected Chunlai to take on Chong Wei in the Semi's. This will not happen as Bao Chunlai lost in the quarters to Lee Hyunil of Korea 23-21 and 21-11. Looks like there would only be 1 Chinese player who will make it to the Men's singles finals as Lee Hyunil will take on Lee Chong Wei in the other Semi's. Bao Chunlai again fails to impress me as his style of play seems to be very safe game play and it is less aggressive compared to Lin Dan and Chong Wei game play. I think with Chunlai out of the scene now, Chong Wei will have a easy passage to the Finals..



In the Mix Doubles, Great Britain’s hopes for a Gold vanished when Gail Emms and Nathan Robertson lost 21-19 21-12 to Lee Hyojung and Lee Yongdae of Korea in the quarters. Looks like the Koreans are going on strong this competitions with a couple of semifinals entries. The funny bit is that we have 4 Lee's in the Semis :) Lee Chong Wei, Lee Hyunil, Lee Hyojung and Lee Yongdae (Are they family or something??).

The semis will be an exciting one for sure. Do catch the semis via my links to live badminton streaming.

Adios dudes and dudettes!