Denmark’s Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen struck a thunderous blow for the West when they overhauled South Korea’s second-seeds Chung Jae-sung and Lee Yong-dae to reach the final of the men’s badminton doubles.
The last Western pair left in gold medal contention, Boe and Mogensen prevailed 17-21 21-18 22-20 in an 83-minute marathon of unrelenting tension to set up a mouth-watering gold medal decider with China’s world champion pair of Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng.
“It is one of the best matches we have played under as much pressure as an Olympics,” said Boe, a four-time European champion. “We will play on pure adrenalin. Fatigue won’t be a problem at all. They can just bring it on, we’ll be ready. We’re looking forward to it.”
China’s Cai and Fu will also head into the match with huge motivation, having lost the gold medal on their home court at the Beijing Games to Indonesia’s Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan. In contrast to Boe and Mogensen’s gruelling battle, the Chinese pair simply outclassed Malaysian pair Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong 21-9 21-19.
“We’re very excited,” said Fu. “We regret not winning gold at Beijing. We want to make up for that regret.”
Published in The Express Tribune, August 5th, 2012.
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