For third straight Games, Malaysian icon drops badminton final to a Chinese champ

China's Chen Long celebrates beating Malaysia's Lee Chong Wei for the badminton singles gold medal on Saturday. Photo By Wei Xiaohao / China Daily

Long-frustrated Malaysian Lee Chong Wei's victory over Chinese nemesis Lin Dan in the badminton semifinals was supposed to pave the way for a golden swan song and secure a desperate nation its first ever Olympic title.

Instead, it was another Chinese star raining on Lee's parade.

Two-time world champion Chen Long played masterfully to edge the top seed 21-18, 21-18 on Saturday, but Lee, 33, was below his best, squandering solid leads in each game en route to his third straight loss in as many Olympic finals.

"Losing this match will definitely give me some regrets," said Lee, the world No 1.

"Malaysia and the fans all hoped I would win the gold medal today.

"Malaysia has never won a gold medal in the Olympics. Today I tried my best, but my opponent played better."

Like much of the crowd that flocked to the semifinals on Friday, Lee felt he played his championship match a game too soon against Lin, the man who beat him for gold in Beijing and London.

It was a classic that deserved a bigger stage for the two battle-scarred veterans in their final Games.

"After beating Lin Dan I was not really that happy because I felt our match should have been the real final in the Olympics," Lee said.

"It is really not easy for us to play four Olympic Games, and I think this is definitely going to be the last big competition for both Lin Dan and me."

Lin, 32, missed out on a medal in his final Games, losing 15-21, 21-10, 21-17 to rising Viktor Axelsen of Denmark for the bronze.

But Lin heads into the sunset having previously won two Olympic golds and with his place in the pantheon of badminton greats assured.

World No 2 Chen said he was determined to ensure the singles title stayed with China after Lin was dumped out by Lee.

"The key here was that a Chinese man won badminton gold. It was a little bit unexpected for me, but all the hard work has paid off," he said.