Lee regains All-England title, Wang too good for Li
Print Edition
LEE Chong Wei produced one of his finest performances despite an ankle problem to regain the All-England Open title doing so with an impressively emphatic straight games win over Chen Long in Birmingham on Sunday.
The world No. 1 from Malaysia beat the titleholder from China 21-13, 21-18 — revenge for his loss to Chen in the final last year — for his third All-England trophy and then admitted he may not be back to try and win a fourth title.
The variety of the 31-year-old’s game was often mesmerizing, and his focus was steely enough to resist determined second-game fightbacks by Chen from 4-10 to 9-10 and from 13-18 to 17-18 and to within the width of the net tape of getting to 18-all.
Lee, however, said he may not be back — not because he is retiring but because this tournament has underlined that preserving his body for another Olympic bid has become increasingly problematic.
“I didn’t know how well I would be able to play, but I feel very happy with what I did,” Lee said. “I had this injury before I came here and I just relaxed because I think it maybe my last time.
“I think I did my best. Now I want to go home and do some rehab.”
Chen was gracious in defeat.
“He played some amazing points,” said Chen. “I can accept winning or losing today.”
Earlier, China won the women’s singles when Wang Shixian, the fourth-seeded former All-England champion, beat Li Xuerui, the top-seeded Olympic champion, 21-19, 21-18.
It was a match which never caught fire, though Wang did enough to suggest she possesses a wider range of strokes and tactics than when she won the title three years ago.
Li, who sometimes walked gingerly as if she was not in the best shape, led 19-17 in the first game and 14-13 in the second, but could not press her slight advantages home.
“It wasn’t too difficult playing a colleague because these days it happens in finals lot,” said Wang. “I hope we will win more matches as a team.”
Yu Yang and her women’s doubles partner Wang Xiaoli saved a match point to complete a successful defence of their All-England Open title. The duo edged out their unseeded compatriots Ma Jin and Tang Yuanting 21-17, 18-21, 23-21.
China’s top-seeded mixed doubles pair of Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei was beaten 21-13, 21-17 by Tontowi Ahmad and Lilyana Natsir, the titleholders from Indonesia. It left China with just two titles, its smallest all-England haul for six years.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
