Yonex Sunrise Hong Kong Open 2011 Semi Finals: Lee Chong Wei vs Lin Dan

The rivalry between the world’s best badminton players at present, Lin Dan and Lee Chong Wei continues in the semi finals of the Yonex Sunrise Hong Kong Open 2011.

“Super Dan” to “Mysterious Dan”

In the few previous OSIM BWF World Super Series tournaments, Lin Dan lacked the motivation and incentives in winning titles.

This was clearly emphasised as we witnessed Lin Dan walking over matches and for unknown reasons, and got defeated by non-seeded players in the preliminary rounds.

Lin Dan finally decided to win some titles towards the end of the year on his home ground, and the Yonex Sunrise Hong Kong Open 2011 was his chance.

He had to face the world no.1 Lee Chong Wei in the semi finals.

Lee Chong Wei’s Goal of the Year

As for Lee Chong Wei, he had to fight his nemesis Lin Dan before he could maintain his goal of the year, which is to reach the finals of every tournament he plays.

Prior to this tournament, Lee Chong Wei had reached the finals of every tournament he played in 2011.

The only 2 players who defeated him this year were Lin Dan and Chen Long, both from China.

Match Comments &amp Wrap-Up

Lin Dan took a slight drift and lost many point to the Malaysian at the start of the game.

After the mid game interval in the first game, Lee Chong Wei fired numerous attacking shots but it did not seem to do any damage to Lin Dan.

On the other side, Lin Dan managed to put the rally away with just one shot whenever he got the opportunity.

The momentum shifted and the tables were turned in favour of Lin Dan. It’s worth watching the match again to see how the match ended.

In the end, Lin Dan had destroyed the Malaysian’s goal of reaching the finals of the Yonex Sunrise Hong Kong Open 2011.

He defeated Lee Chong Wei in 2 straight games at 21-16, 21-14 and proceeded to the finals.

Pre-Match Confusion

The Malaysian was in a disadvantaged situation that could have partly played a reason in his defeat.

Apart from the obvious home ground advantage for Lin Dan, there was a walkover before Chong Wei’s match against Lin Dan. It was a China v China men doubles match where one Chinese pair decided not to play and walked over.

Lee Chong Wei was not aware of this and he was informed at the very last minute, right before he had to go on to the court.

Therefore, it was said that Chong Wei was not physically and mentally prepared for his match against Lin Dan. He did not have enough warm up before the match.

Despite this, the world no.1 badminton player did not mention this at all during his interview and did not use this excuse as the reason for his defeat.

Read the Season Wrap Up of the OSIM BWF World Superseries Event here!