After the extremely unfortunate Tuesday evening with a disgraceful performance of the 8 Asian ladies doubles players the badminton tournament eventually went very well. Every day the Wembley arena was sold out and last Sunday more than a billion people watched the finals on TV. I really have enjoyed the entire event with the Sunday men’s single final as a climax! It was great that the Dutch Broadcasting Corporation offered a daily live-stream of the badminton tournament making it possible to watch the matches at home. Unfortunately I lacked the financial means to travel to London and attend the matches myself.
Lin Dan did it again. His second Olympic title. I believe it was the best men’s single match I have ever seen. Two players so evenly matched! Both fast and explosive, with an excellent technique and mentally that strong. All credits to Lee Chong Wei who made it to the finals despite the serious injury he got in May. Believe me, he must have a very strong mind. Normally he should be the best player ever, but it is his misfortune that at decisive moments one person is always slightly better.
I even enjoyed watching the ladies finals because in both events they played very offensive. Usually the ladies doubles is dominated by long rallies with infinite clears, but this match showed hard smashes and spectacular defences. With their forehand defence the (Chinese) women try to create the best position to return the shuttle as fast and as hard as possible, which is remarkable.
Of course the great ladies winner was Zhao Yunlei who grabbed not only the ladies doubles title but also the mixed doubles one with her partner Zhang Nan! It’s not a real power mixed doubles like Fischer/Pedersen and Chen Xu/Ma Jin, but they play smart and technically. Zhang Nan plays almost every shot steeply down and his defence is well controlled. Zhao Yunlei is always at the right spot, anticipates very cleverly, plays hard and fast and has a better defence than many men’s doubles players. So after their World Championship also the Olympic title makes them the legitimate numbers one of the world.
Finally the men’s doubles final. Very surprising because I never expected Boe and Mogensen to beat the Koreans. I felt a little bit sorry for Jung Jae Sung because this was his last tournament and I think he is a real hero, but for Europe this was a great and more than welcome success. Unfortunately the final was rather one-sided because Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng were just too strong. After Silver in Beijing it now was Gold in London. The rumours are that this pair will quit playing too, so there will be changes at the top of the men’s doubles! I am already looking forward to Rio!