Beijing: In the fourth leg of China Badminton Super League (CBSL) that took place on Thursday, Lin Dan was discovered to have had an extramarital affair while his wife was pregnant in November, tried to pull himself from the cheating scandal by winning a classic battle against reigning Olympic Chen Long.
Lin Dan showed his vigor, fight and determination from the get-go at the tie between his team Guangzhou and Chen Long’s team Qingdao. It’s clear that Lin was willing to do whatever necessary to beat Chen Long on Thursday. In the first set, Lin Dan managed to take advantage of Chen Long’s unforced errors to win the game 21-18. Despite Lin’s impressive form in the first set and showing off his signature diving skill for approximately 10-times in the second set, he obviously lacked stamina and went down 13-21 in the second game.
Both Lin Dan and Chen Long had a neck-and-neck race in the decider by tying the scores 15-15, 16-16, 17-17 before Lin Dan surged ahead to 20-17 and eventually notched up a 21-18 win for Guangzhou.
“I didn’t not have good systematic training after the Olympics. But, I am slowly regaining my rhythm through the league,” said Chen Long after the match.
Korean shuttlers Lee Yong-Dae/Shin Baek Cheol won the first match for Guangzhou when they needed only 45 minutes to tame Zhang Nan/Guo Yu Chen of Qingdao 21-19, 21-14.
Although trailing the Guangzhou team 0-2 in tie, Qingdao staged a remarkable comeback by sparking three victories over the Guangzhou when Luo Ying/Luo Yu, Hui Xi Rui, Ko Sung-Hyun/Lee Hyo-Jung defied the odds to beat their opponents in women’s doubles, women’s singles, and men’s doubles to brush aside Guangzhou with an overall 3-2 triumph.
