Daily Times

RIO DE JANEIRO: Malaysian world number one Lee Chong Wei avenged two heartbreaking Olympic badminton final defeats to Lin Dan Friday, beating his nemesis in the last-four to keep his dream of Rio gold alive. Lin took the first game 21-15 but Lee bounced back in the second, comfortably winning it 21-11 before sensationally clinching the semi-final clash with a 22-20 victory in the third. Lee, who has never won a world or Olympic title, lost the last two Olympic finals to his arch-rival Lin, leaving both Games with a silver medal. At Beijing in 2008 Lin humiliated Lee 21-12, 21-8 in the gold medal showdown to become Olympic champion for the first time. Four years later in London it was far closer as the Chinese shuttler edged it 21-15, 10-21, 21-19 to become a double Olympic champion. Friday’s last-four clash was almost certain to be the last time the arch-rivals meet at an Olympics with both Lee, 33 and Lin, 32, expected to have retired by the time Tokyo 2020 rolls around. Lee will play either China’s Chen Long or Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen in Saturday’s final.