World number one failed to reach final since last year Paris open
Four-time world champion Lin Dan stamped his authority over world No. 1 Lee Chong Wei (left), to win in straight games, thus ending the Malaysian’s proud record of reaching the final of every Open tournament he has played in this year.
The last time Chong Wei failed to reach a final was at the 2010 Paris World Championships where he lost to Taufik Hidayat in the quarter-finals.
While many had expected an explosive encounter between the two dominant men shuttlers of their generation, it was Lin Dan, who also beat Chong Wei in the finals of the 2008 Olympic, 2010 Asian Games and 2011 World Championships, who was on fire at the Hong Kong Coliseum.
Lin Dan also proved once again, that when he is fully fit, he is arguably one of the greatest players the game has ever known.
His 17th victory in 25 ranking matches against the ‘King of the Superseries’ means he will now play either 2010 world champion Chen Jin or the man who has since replaced him as the world No. 2, Chen Long, in Sunday’s final.
