Hong Kong: No one imagined he would, or could ever return to his athletic endeavor after spending eight months away from badminton court. Yet, with heart and soul made of steel, Lee Chong Wei defied all the odds, kept on fighting and created an inspiring comeback and re-established himself as true champion in the sport of badminton.
After winning back-to-back Superseries titles in China and France, former world No. 1 Lee Chong Wei’s 21-16, 21-15 win over Tian Houwei on Sunday in Hong Kong Open men’s final sent a definitive statement to the badminton world that, although it’s not easy, but nothing is impossible for him in badminton and don’t count him out just yet.
Lee corrected the slow start habit which has been his problem the last two matches, raced to a 4-0 lead in the opening game and continued to fire on all cylinders after 10-10 to clinch the first set 21-15.
The exchanges were much more intense in the second set with 6 lead changes. Trailed by 14-15, an attacking Lee Chong Wei sparked a surge that saw him reel off seven points of the second set, beating Tian Houwei 21-15 to clinch his fourth Hong Kong Open title and his third consecutive Superseries title of the year.
“Tian Houwei was very good at defence. I tried to break down Tian’s defence by playing more attacking badminton,” said Lee.
“I just want to concentrate on the Olympic qualifying right now, and I’m aiming to move up to top four in the world,” said Lee, who has skyrocketed from world No. 180th in June to world No. 5 currently.
Lee Chong Wei vs. Tian Houwei
In women’s competition, world No. 1 Carolina Marin and unseeded Nozomi Okuhara were engaged in a grueling battle for the right to claim the women’s singles title. Carolina was dominant in the first set, taking the game 21-17. However, to everyone’s surprise, Okuhara responded like a champion in the second set, storming 3 straight points at 18-18 to win the second set 21-18. In a dramatic decider and on the brink of defeat, Okuhara saved 6 match points rallied from 14-20 deficit before finally losing to Marin 20-22. With the extraordinary Hong Kong Open victory, two-time world champion Carolina Marin of Spain now has six titles under her belt in 2015.
Zhao Yunlei of China enjoyed double celebration on Sunday, after she and Zhang Nan defeated compatriots No. 3 seeds Liu Cheng/Bao Yixin 21-17, 17-21, 21-17 to take the mixed doubles crown. She returned to the court later Sunday, partnering Tian Qing to tame Tang Yuanting/Yu Yang 21-15, 21-12 in the women’s doubles final.
In a match marked by a plethora of mistakes and huge momentum swing, No. 1 seeds Lee Yong Dae/Yoo Yeon Seong of Korea completely demolished No. 3 seeds Mathias Boe/Carsten Mogensen of Denmark 21-7 in the first set of men’s doubles final. The second set saw a crazy comeback for Boe/Mogensen when they overcame a 5-14 deficit to eventually seal the game 21-18 in their favors. With quick net plays and aggressive smashes, Lee/Yoo produced a more balanced game in the decider to battle past the Danish pair 21-18 to bag the men’s doubles title.
BadmintonPlanet.com’s note:
The reason why BadmintonPlanet.com selected Muhammad Ali’s picture for this article was because both Ali and Lee Chong Wei have made a strong comeback after a long absence in their respective sports. With 2016 approaching fast, we hope Lee Chong Wei could continue to reinvent himself and could bring more energy and excitement to the sport of badminton.
Lee Chong Wei is back!:
