UPDATED
Lee Chong Wei suffered serious cramps after the match and could not be interviewed after the final. Though a stretcher and wheelchair was brought, he gallantly walked to the changing room. No thanks to an overzealous BWF Media Officer we are unable to bring those pictures to you.
Chong Wei served first and duly won the opening three points as Lin Dan committed unforced errors by sending the shuttle out.
A weak smash into the net by Chong Wei gave Lin Dan the first point and the stage was set for an epic battle.
The Malaysian held the lead after that, but Lin Dan kept within striking distance as the scores moved from 705 to 10-8.
At the break Chong Wei had a three- point lead with the score at 11-8 in favour of the Malaysian.
Lin Dan drew level at 14-14, after a long rally ended with a delicate drop shot that caught Chong Wei flat-footed.
Chong Wei then led 15-14 but a fortunate net clip fell into the Malaysians court and Lin Dan was level again at 15-15.
The Chinese ace then went ahead 16-15 but Chong Wei was not prepared to let him break away as he won the next point to make it 16-16.
Chong Wei showed great defensive skills as he returned three smashes by Lin Dan to make it 18-16 and the crowd were loving it as the two players gave it their best.
Another smash by Chong Wei gave him a 19-16 lead and though Lin Dan had the whole court to him after Chong Wei slipped, he sent the shuttle wide on Chong Wei’s left to give the Malaysian the set point at 20-16,
Lin Dan won the next three points as Chong Wei was hasty with his shots and was within a point of drawing level. And when Chong Wei could not finish off Lin Dan with two smashes, the match went into deuce.
But Chong Wei prevailed as he took the next two points and the set at 22-20 in 27 minutes.
The second started off the same as the first as Chong Wei took a 3-0 lead but Lin Dan won the next four points to edge ahead at 4-3.
A mistake at the net gave Lin Dan a 5-3 lead and things were not looking too good for the Malaysian.
Though Chong Wei pulled a point back, Lin Dan made it 6-4 as Chong Wei sent a shot wide. But in the next two pints it was Lin Dan who committed the errors, first by misjudging a shot on the baseline and following that with a shot into the net to give Chong Wei a 7-6 lead.
But Lin Dan stepped up a gear to take a 9-7 lead, which Chong Wei duly erased to lead 10-9. And two errors by Chong Wei handed the lead to Lin Dan at the break with the clock showing 44 minutes played thus far.
Lin Dan then reeled off six straight winner to make it 17-10, with Chong Wei accounting for three of those, leaving the shuttle, thinking it was out.
Though Chong Wei picked up three points to reduce the deficit to 14-18, two more unforced errors put paid to his hopes as Lin Dan took the set 21-14 in 25 minutes.
