Badminton: Lee beats Dan in Seoul final

SEOUL: World number one Lee Chong Wei stormed back to defeat arch-rival and holder Lin Dan in the final of the Korea Open to prevent a rampant China from sweeping all five titles. The first Superseries of the new season saw some high-quality badminton from the two best players around. In a tense 75-minute showdown, the Malaysian Lee lost the first game 12-21 to his nemesis, before winning the closely-fought second game 21-18. Lee enjoyed eight smashed winners to seal the third game – and with it the title - 21-14, as the Malaysian made up for the bitter disappointment of losing to Lin, the Olympic champion, in last year’s final.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 9^th, 2012.