China's top-seeded Lin Dan defeated Vietnamese shuttler Nguyen
Tien Minh in straight sets to capture the men's singles gold at
2007 Beijing International Badminton Tournament on Saturday.
Lin won the match 21-12, 21-15.
Nguyen, Vietnam's top player, opened the account of the first
set with jump smashes before world No.1 Lin starting to uncork the
smashes and kills to gain a big margin of ten points at 16-6 and
maintained the lead to victory.
The second set saw Nguyen's confidence and strong will to win as
he tied the score five times and gained three points ahead at 11-8
before the break.
However, the hard-hitting Lin with incredible speed and accurate
net play finally blew Nguyen away at 21-15 as he scored the winner
with a strong forehand smash in 34 minutes.
"He (Nguyen) is a skillful player though with less fame. I took
the match seriously and hope to play him in the Beijing Olympics
next year," said Lin.
Nguyen, 24, also showed his respect to Lin, as he described the
Chinese as "a great player with varied shuttles and unexpected
tactics."
"I enjoyed the game and felt happy though I was defeated. I
gained experiences and learned a lot from Chinese players, that's
why I attended the tournament," said Nguyen.
As the only non-Chinese player Nguyen left the court, the
all-Chinese men's singles final will be held on Oct. 14 at Beijing
University of Technology (BUT) Gymnasium after China's
second-seeded Bao Chunlai playing his teammate Li Yu late on
October 13 for a position in the final.
(Xinhua News Agency October 13, 2007)