LEE Chong Wei was forced to settle for the bronze medal in the Asian Games team event yesterday and would hardly have been cheered up after drawing Lin Dan in the men’s singles semi-finals.
China’s Lin Dan, the Asian Games defending champion, five-time world and twice Olympic winner, is unseeded and would have to get past Chong Wei in the last four to defend his title.
Lin Dan was in peerless form yesterday as he beat Malaysia’s second singles Chong Wei Feng 21-11, 21-12 in China’s 3-0 semi-final win.
“Chong Wei and I will have to study Lin Dan’s game again because he has not played for a while,” said national singles coach Tey Seu Bock at the Gyeyang Gymnasium.
“From what we saw when he beat Wei Feng, it’s obvious Lin Dan has still got his deadly touches. He’s trying to find his rhythm and Chong Wei will have to be better prepared.”
Chong Wei has a first round bye and will probably have to beat Pakistan’s Umer Zeeshan, Commonwealth Games gold medallist P. Kashyap of India and Thailand’s Boonsak Ponsana to reach the semi-finals.
The unseeded Lin Dan has, among others, Hong Kong’s Hu Yun and Japan’s Kenichi Tago in his path.
“I tried my best today but Chen Long played better,” said Chong Wei after failing to avenge his World Championships final loss in his 21-17, 19-21, 21-11 opening singles defeat.
“He was more confident after winning in Copenhagen but I’m not worried as that is normal. I hope to do better when the singles starts on Wednesday.”
Wei Feng is braced for an early exit after having to face Chen Long, who is seeded to meet Indonesia’s Tommy Sugiarto in the semi-finals, in the second round in the bottom half.
“It’s the worst draw for me but I’ll do my best,” he said.
In the men’s doubles, Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong face Taiwanese fifth seeds Lee Sheng Mu-Tsai Chia Hsin while Tan Boon Heong-Hoon Thien How take on China’s sixth seeds Liu Xialong-Qiu Zihan in opening matches.
Boon Heong-Thien How lost to Xu Chen-Zhang Nan 14-21, 21-15, 21-10 in the team event.