World badminton championships: Chen retains crown, denies Lee his elusive gold again

Spain’s Marin successfully defends her title against India’s Nehwal

JAKARTA: Top seed Chen Long proved unstoppable as he retained the singles crown at the badminton world championships on Sunday, with Lee Chong Wei suffering an agonising fourth straight defeat.

There were back-to-back championship victories in the women’s singles too, with world number one Carolina Marin beating India’s Saina Nehwal to defend her title.

Lee entered the final hungrier than ever for his elusive world title but could not unsettle the Chinese world number one, who stormed to a 21-14, 21-17 victory in just over an hour.

An overjoyed Chen, who has already won four titles in a stellar season this year, wept and kissed the court as his final triumphant smash sailed home. “I cried last year too, but this time I cried even more,” he said via a translator. “This was a very difficult tournament to play. Every match was very difficult. Every opponent was very strong. I’m happy to win this men’s singles, not just for myself but for the China team.”

Chen was unrelenting and outmanoeuvred the Malaysian at every turn, ending Lee’s dreams of gold with a smash directly at his feet.

“He [Chen] played so well today,” said Lee. “I tried to adapt, but he defended all the way. I tried to play a rally and he ran with me.”

Lee entered the competition unseeded for the first time in years after returning from an eight-month doping ban. His comeback had pundits tipping he would take gold in Jakarta.

Earlier, top-seeded Marin charged to a 21-16, 21-19 win over Nehwal to take home her second successive gold medal.

The Spaniard burst into tears and collapsed on the court as Nehwal’s final shot sailed out, delivering Marin the title she was not sure she would defend.

She nearly missed the world championships entirely after suffering a foot injury just a month ago, and had refused to speculate about her chances of retaining her crown. “This time was more difficult than the first time,” she said.

History was made earlier in the day as defending champions Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei became the first pair ever to win three gold medals in the mixed doubles, with a routine victory over Chinese compatriots Liu Cheng and Bao Yixin 21-17, 21-11. 

Published in The Express Tribune, August 17^th,  2015.

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