One of the better Olympics finals in badminton was the men's singles.
Final Score: 15-21, 21-10, 21-19
Lin Dan ended the hope of Malaysia's Lee Chong Wei's quest of a gold medal and successfully defended his gold medal.
This final lived up to its billing with a closely fought battle unlike the one-sided fiasco in Beijing 2008.
The top best players displayed all the skills of players at the top of their game.
Cautious probing, sudden attacks, miraculous saves, even trick shots, diving return of smashes and everything in between.
Unlike 2008, Lee Chong Wei managed to execute his deadly crosscourt smash, which is difficult to read.
Unfortunately, I realized the mistakes made by both Lin Dan and Lee Chong Wei were cause by some draft in the stadium.
Lin Dan muttering at his mistakes.
Both the finalist misjudged the shuttles owing to the draft.
Lee Chong Wei misjudged an inbound shuttle.
One side of the court had a draft (downwind) and the other court slightly upwind.
The game have so much in stakes that chief coach (kingpin) Li Yongbo sat at the end of the court to yell instructions to Lin Dan.
The 1st game was all Lee Chong Wei as Lin Dan was unusually cautious, making mistakes and rarely attack.
The 2nd game was all Lin Dan as Lee Chong Wei gave up the game as he trailed Lin Dan too far.
Lin Dan executing his deadly signature jumpsmash, arguably the most lethal in setting up winners in men's singles today.
The 3rd game was probing match, each cutting down mistakes and only attacking when there's opportunity.
The game was neck to neck until suddenly at 19-18, when Lee Chong Wei left an incourt shuttle thinking it was out. That changed the momentum. Li Yongbo was so tense that he stood up after that point.
At the end, Lin Dan took more risk in the final points doing smashes.
(It's quite risky to smash too much as it risk hitting the net or increased recovery time compared to the defender)...Sad for Lee Chong Wei, 3 points to win the gold medal and he can almost win it.
Later that day, Fu Haifeng and Cai Yun beat Boe/Morgensen to win the gold.
When Fu is at the back and Cai in front, the combination is lethal.
Boe and Morgensen resorted to drive and placement tactics to negate the power of Fu Haifeng and speed of Cai Yun at the front court.
But their mistakes at flat play was costing them dear points.
The set plays, a strength of the Danes that defeated Lee Yong Dae/Jung Jae Sung, was countered brilliantly by the Chinese pairs who moved faster around the court.
At the end, the Chinese pair earned their victory in a convincing fashion.
China sweeps the gold medals in badminton.
Attention to the national anthem of China, March of the Volunteers...义勇军进行曲.
Lin Dan's parents and wife at the stands.
