Some time last year, Lee Chong Wei was on the brink of a historic world championship title and he lost it to Lin Dan in the final moments.
And that is precisely what happened to Chong wei as he lost the Olympic final to Lin Dan 21-15, 10-21,19-21 in a repeat of that epic encounter.
Four years ago Chong Wei got a silver and it was gold that he was looking for. But that never came and for Malaysia as a nation the wait for the elusive gold continues.
It was an apprehensive start as they were tied point for point until 3-3 until Chong Wei broke clear for a 5-3 lead.
But two delicate drop shots by Lin Dan on either side of Chong Wei's court allowed the Chinese to draw level at 5-5.
Lin dan went ahead 6-5 but the resilient Chong Wei executed a cross court drop to draw level before winning the duel at the net to lead 7-6.
The duo were tied till 8-8 before Chong Wei reeled off three points on the trot to take a11-8 lead at the break. The eleventh point came when the chair umpire over ruled a call by the linesman.
Chong Wei raced to a four point lead, 15-11 as a result of forcing Lin Dan back onto the baseline and making mistakes with his cross court drives that he uses to deadly effect.
After gaining another point to lead 16-11, Chong Wei made a judgement error at the baseline to hand the point to Lin Dan.
A leaping cross court smash had Lin dan beaten all the way as Chong Wei extended his lead to 18-13 before making a right call to leave the shuttle to collect the 19th point.
Though Lin Dan reduced the deficit to 19-15, Chong Wei was not about to let it slip away and collected the next two points to take the first set 21-15.
The second set saw Lin Dan race to an early 3-1 lead but Chong Wei was soon level at 3-3. However Lin Dan showed his brilliant strokes to deceive Chong Wei and take a 8-6 lead.
A long rally which saw the two players showing exquisite skills ended when Lin dan send his drop out and Chong Wei was a point behind the defending champion at 8-7.
But Lin Dan was not going to let his gold slip away as he reeled off three point in a row to lead 11-7 at the break with Chong Wei wondering how to break the Chinese players defence.
Lin dan started dominating the match, with Chong Wei finding no answers to his net play and power play, often catching the Malaysian on the back foot.
The Chinese raced to a 16-8 lead and by then Chong Wei knew it was a lost cause in the second as he let go of it to go down 10-21.
The lead exchanged hands in the early stages of the third set until Chong Wei had a two point lead at 7-5. A long rally ensued for the next point and Lin Dan uncharateristically sent the shuttle wide to give Chong Wei a 8-5 lead.
The chair umpire then over ruled a line judge to give Lin Dan the next point and he soon levelled it at 8-8 when Chong Wei put the shuttle into the net.
It was all Lin dan at this stage as Chong Wei made many unforced errors at the net to hand Lin dan the advantage 11-9 at the break.
But Chong Wei was unfazed as he drew level at 13-13 and collected the next two points with pin point body smashes to lead 15-13.
A smash into the net in a seemingly winning position allowed Lin Dan to level it at 15-15. At this point it was still anybody's game.
A net chord shot in favour of Lin Dan made it 16-16 but the Chinese made a big blunder by hitting a shot into the net to give Chong Wei a one point advantage, four points seperating Malaysian from a gold medal.
Another rushed smash into the net by Lin Dan made it 18-16 but he atoned for the mistake with a breathtaking smash from the baseline to reduce the deficit to just one point and Wembley Arena was going crazy when the score was 18-18.
Though Chong Wei got the 19th point, his misjudged a baseline shot to allow Lin Dan level. And the Chinese took the next point to be within a point of retaining the gold.
And it was all over, as the ghost of Wembley continued to haunt Chong Wei who slumped onto the court, truly a king without a crown.
