RIO DE JANEIRO: Datuk Lee Chong Wei admitted that Chen Long was simply the better player on the day as the Malaysian won his third consecutive silver medal at the Rio Olympics on Saturday.
The World No 1 said he tried his best but couldn't find a way past Chen Long.
"Chen Long was in unbeatable form and was able to return all my shots. I also made mistakes at the net, which proved crucial," said Chong Wei, who was denied in the Olympic finals of 2008 and 2012 by Lin Dan.
"Credit to Chen Long but I tried my best and have to accept that my Olympic career will end with yet another silver medal."
Bronze medallist in the 2012 London Olympics, Chen Long won the final 21-18, 21-18 in 73 minutes.
There was to be no medal farewell for two-time champion Lin Dan as the China ace was denied the bronze by Denmark's Viktor Axelsen in the third-place playoff.
Axelsen won 15-21, 21-10, 21-17 in 70 minutes to give Denmark their first men's singles medal since current Badminton World Federation president Poul-Erik Hoyer Larsen won the gold in the 1996 Atlanta Games.