Badminton:  Malaysia’s Lee Chong Wei seals All England 2014 title

-DR. ABDUL RUFF COLACHAL 

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All England 2014 held in Birmingham from 04 to 09 March produced mixed fortunes to top shuttle playing nations.  Although China, which remains the top  badminton nation,  showcased its overall dominance with shuttle winning woman single and doubles,  it could not  stop Indonesia  and Malaysia from sharing  the pride with it at All England 2014, especially losing in male single. .  

The legend of Lee Chong Wei, who has already announced his retirement after this important All England 2014 tournament, loomed large at the Yonex All England 2014 this afternoon with the Malaysian savoring a famous feat The Malaysian started strong, and his victory never looked in doubt as he completed a hat-trick of titles by defeating his 25-year-old rival, who won last year's championship.

The limelight of All England 2014 belonged to one of badminton’s most popular players, the durable Lee Chong Wei, who conjured up a performance of bygone vintage to deny his nemesis, Chen Long’s title defence in straight games – 21-13 21-18. Sinking to his knees and celebrating with frenzied double fist pumps, the 31-year-old showed how much it meant to beat the top Chinese to whom he lost their last four encounters.

It was Lee Chong Wei’s day and he summoned a final flourish to capture his third All England crown. Revealing he is still nursing an ankle injury, Lee enjoyed the taste of revenge not only from last year’s All England defeat to Chen Long but also from more recent clashes such as the Denmark Open last October and the Korea Open in January this year.

Revealing he is still nursing an ankle injury, Lee enjoyed the taste of revenge not only from last year’s All England defeat to Chen Long but also from more recent clashes such as the Denmark Open last October and the Korea Open in January this year.

All-out attack and precision in the first game and early part of the second characterized Lee’s success as the lean, well-toned top seed employed speed, acute angles and deft shot-making to telling effect against an out-of-sorts Chen who started slowly in most of his outings all week. This time though the world No. 2 was unable to rebound. Lee sprinted ahead and capitalized on leads of 13-6 and 15-8 – the net and luck even on his side – as fans’ deafening cheers spurred him on. “I tried my best today. This may be my last All England so I’m very happy. Chen Long is a good player and I needed to play my best to beat him,” said the world No. 1, admitting it was a tough match which sapped him physically.

Wang Shixian, mostly in the shadows of compatriots and Olympics Gold medalist Li Xuerui and Wang Yihan in recent years, came to the fore, winning the Women’s Singles final versus an erratic Li. Maintaining greater composure in a match which saw a mixture of good rallies with jittery shot selection, Wang prevailed 21-19 21-18 to clinch her second All England championship.

Forced to settle for the two titles it had been guaranteed overnight, China shared the spoils with Indonesia as wonder woman Natsir partnered Tontowi Ahmad to a memorable three-peat inside Birmingham’s National Indoor Arena; seizing the championship they also claimed last year and in 2012. The satisfaction of blitzing their Chinese archrivals, Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei, 21-13 21-17 made victory all the sweeter as Indonesia also took Men’s Doubles honours through Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan.

In the middle of the familiar story of China’s dominance, Malaysia’s Lee Chong Wei sealed a place in his fifth consecutive All England final. Lee will be aiming for his third All England title when he tackles defending Men’s Singles champion, Chen Long, and will seek to reverse a run of four defeats to the Chinese world No. 2.

The Malaysian had his toughest match of the week against Korean Son Wan Ho. The Korean won the first game rather comfortably and had the top seed in a spot in the second game. Lee, however, was able to shift gears and snatch the game from 15-17 down. He continued in the same vein to clinch the decider: 14-21 21-19 21-15.

Li Xuerui , world number one  and Olympics Gold Medalist, was favoured to regain her 2012 title as she takes on another former champion, Wang Shixian, who got past compatriot Wang Yihan 21-8 21-15 for the first time in eight matches since January 2011.

In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has praised Datuk Lee Chong Wei for winning the All-England 2014 badminton championship in Birmingham, England early this morning. Chong Wei had won the title twice in 2010 and 2011.