Lin Dan, the three-times Olympic champion, lost his men’s singles title at the All-England Open with a bewilderingly limp straight games semifinal defeat to his fellow Chinese player Shi Yuqi.
The man regarded as the greatest player of all time briefly held two game points at 20-18 in the first game against the unseeded Shi, before slipping quietly away to a 24-22 21-10 defeat on Saturday.
READ: Lee storms into seventh All-England final
Lin’s deflating loss ended hopes of another final showdown between the veteran greats — the 33-year-old Lin, and the 34-year-old World No. 1 from Malaysia, Lee Chong Wei, who had already reached the final.
“My condition is not very good,” said Lin though he had looked in good shape while coming from a game down to beat Viktor Axelsen, the World Super Series champion from Denmark, the night before.
“I am proud of the way I am still able to play at this level at my age.”
Four-time champion Lee reached the final for a seventh time by recovering from a worrying start to beat Chiu Tien Chen of Taiwan 10-21 21-14 21-9.
It was a wonderful turn-around after a slow first game and a tournament preparation which had been decimated by injury — so wonderful that afterwards Lee announced that his retirement, which has been mooted at least three times in the past four years, has been postponed yet again.
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