KUALA LUMPUR: A “letter” purportedly written by Lin Dan for Datuk Lee Chong Wei has turned out to be a work of fiction.
The touching 'letter', supposedly from Chong Wei’s long-time nemesis, Lin Dan, which was originally written in Chinese, was translated into English and Bahasa Malaysia and went viral on Facebook and Twitter.
It was then revealed to be a fan-fiction posted on /dailynews.sina.com/bg/news/spt/2016-bd/sinacn/20160819/17567480654.html.
An online news portal (hype.my) said the original article clearly wrote, “如果他們彼此給對方寫一封信的話，他們又會怎麼说呢?” which translated into, “If they were to write a letter to each other, what would they say?”
In the “letter”, Lin Dan penned his journey of becoming a badminton star and expressed his gratitude to Chong Wei.
Excerpts of the so-called letter read: “I’m still quite thankful to you. Besides all the wins and championships, there’s still a warm ‘Lin-Lee’ relationship linked with my name. We can be like Ronaldo and Messi, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, Federer and Nadal, eternal because of each other’s existence.
“Because of you, only there exists a better me. I’ve gotten almost all possible championships, yet still do not dare to put down the defence and slack.
“I could have sang 'it is lonely to be undefeated' (rough translation of a song name), if not for you being there, the one forcing cold sweat from me, the one facing me every time we went to the finals with you across the net.
“You went all out to chase me, it’s not like I could let you just surpass me like that. You trained, I trained. You wouldn’t accept losing, I didn’t dare slack,” Lin Dan supposedly wrote.
The “letter” then ended with, “The 37th time I meet you across the net, it’s already gone a whole round since our first. Truthfully, when I slipped and lost to you, I had no regrets.
“You are my greatest rival, I am willing to lose to you, without regrets. When I hugged you, I really felt as if the past ten years with you, had been but a dream.
“I will take your jersey to my future child and tell him: ‘There is an uncle known as Lee Chong Wei, your dad’s greatest rival, and also best friend.’ To meet you in my best years is my luck. Good luck in the finals.”
Netizens shared the post, by citing Twitter user @rueyping as the source. One such post garnered 11,000 likes and over 15,000 shares. However, the original tweet had since been deleted.
Ruey Ping commented on the viral Facebook post, saying: “It’s fiction, guys.”
The “letter” went viral on social media, when Chong Wei lost his third Olympic final after going down 18-21, 18-21 to China’s Chen Long at the Riocentro Pavilion 4 on Saturday.