Victory leap Lee Chong Wei jumping towards his coach Misbun Sidek after beating South Korea’s Lee Hyun-il in the Beijing Olympics badminton men’s singles semi-final to assure himself of at least a silver medal in the Games. Chong Wei won 21-18, 13-21, 21-13. He will become the first Malaysian Olympics medallist since 1996. — KAMARUL ARIFFIN / The Star
Almost half the country were sitting in upright position while Lee Chong Wei was trying to win the badminton singles quater-finals match against a Korean the other night. The triumping victory was shared by all Malaysians regardless of race, culture, religion or colour. But the kissing of the small Malaysian flag on his shirt, several times, had made me realise how truly a Malaysian was this man. The jumping of joy and a bear hug on his coach was nonetheless the most beautiful sight too. But the same day ada sumpah perdana by one Saifool, and many I think were fooled again this time. To them Lee Chong Wei is just about badminton and Saifool was probably their life.
But I'll just cut short here........have promised myself not to involve in this anymore.
So let's read the following news article from TheStar, Saturday August 16, 2008
LEE Chong Wei made history when he became the first Malaysian badminton singles player to reach an Olympic final at the Beijing University of Technology Gymnasium last night.
The 26-year-old made sure Malaysia will return home with at least a silver medal after barren outings at the last two Olympics by battling past South Korean Lee Hyun-il 21-18, 13-21, 21-13 in the semi-finals.
Chong Wei has now bettered Rashid Sidek’s bronze medal achievement at the Atlanta Games in 1996.
The men’s doubles pair of Cheah Soon Kit-Yap Kim Hock also delivered a silver medal for Malaysia that year but tomorrow, Chong Wei has a chance to go one step better when he takes on top seed Lin Dan of China, who beat compatriot Chen Jin 21-12, 21-18.
But that mouth-watering finale almost didn't happened as Hyun-il gave the Malaysian some anxious moments.
Chong Wei gained early control but Hyun-il caught up to 18-20.
But the Malaysian earned victory when his rival lobbed the shuttle wide.
Hyun-il, winner of the Korean and German Opens this year, turned on the power in the second game when he won 11 points in a row to eventually force the match into the rubber game.
In the decided, Chong Wei led 8-1 before the tenacious Korean clawed his way back to 11-15.
But Chong Wei, spurred on by shouts of Malaysia Boleh from the pockets of Malaysian supporters, regained the big lead again.
At 19-11, Chong Wei knew he was on the brink of a famous and historic win.
And when he did get the winning point, Chong Wei collapsed to the ground in sheer joy and relief.
He then got up, ran over and jumped onto his coach Misbun Sidek’s arms.
“The huge pressure is off me! I have made sure of winning at least an Olympic medal. I dedicate this to my coach, who gave everything to prepare me for these Games,” said Chong Wei, who only reached the second round in his Olympic debut in Athens four years ago.
“I knew Hyun-il would not be an easy opponent because he has beaten the top players before. But I pulled it off.”
On losing second game, Chong Wei said he just could not keep up with his opponent.
“He played at a very fast pace and I could not follow him. I made mistakes and I just prepared myself for the final game,” said Chong Wei, who now has a shot at the RM1mil incentive that has been promised by the government for any athlete who returns with an Olympic gold medal.
But more than that, it is his chance to gain Malaysian sporting immortality and bag what many athletes can only dream of.
The partisan crowd will be on Lin Dan’s side tomorrow but one thing is for sure, Malaysians can expect Chong Wei to go all out to bring home Malaysia’s first Olympic gold medal.
As he simply puts it: “I’ll play with my life.”
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