Lee stuns Chen to win China Open

Former world number one Lee Chong Wei’s hopes of finally winning an Olympic badminton gold medal glistened in Fuzhou on Sunday after he crushed top seed Chen Long of China 21-15, 21-11 in the men’s singles final at the US$700,000 China Open.

Lee, now unseeded after a eight-month doping ban, has had a patchy year that saw him make early exits in Japan, South Korea and Denmark, and had lost to Chen in their last four meetings.

Chong Wei stayed true to the scintillating form he was showing after having beaten Jan O Jorgensen of Denmark in the quarter-finals and archrival Lin Dan of China, the current world number three, en route to yesterday’s final. With the home crowd cheering, Chen Long was expected to muster a comeback in the second round.

Lin has also won five world titles, beating his great Malaysian rival in two finals. It was very hard to get.

Unlike the World Championships final where he appeared jittery, Lee was composed throughout his relatively easy 50-minute victory, using his experience against Chen and clinched various point winners, including his deep forehand smashes and signature deft disguised drop shots, which had the world No 1 flat-footed at times. “I am so happy for him”, he told the Star.

Li Xuerui defeated Saina Nehwal of India in 21-12 21-15 in the women’s singles final that lasted only 39 minutes.

In the women’s doubles, Tang Yuanting and Yu Yang overcame Japanese top seeds Misaki Matsutomo and Ayaka Takahashi 18-21, 21-13, 21-12. Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei won the mixed doubles title with a 21-19, 17-21, 21-19 win over Danes Joachim Fischer Nielsen and Christinna Pedersen.