GOLD COAST: Age is only a number for the wily Lee Chong Wei as the 36-year-old was crowned as the Commonwealth Games men's singles champion for the third time in his career at the Carrara Sports and Leisure Centre yesterday,
Things were going against Chong Wei in the match as he was not only playing the World No 1 but also a player 11 years younger than him in K. Srikanth.
The India player was probably oozing with confidence going into the match after beating the Malaysian in the mixed team final.
However, second seed Chong Wei showed he could still produce his best badminton by overcoming Srikanth, the top seed, 19-21, 21-14, 21-14 in an exciting 67-minute battle that kept fans glued to their seats at the venue.
With the victory, Chong Wei signs off from his final outing in the Commonwealth Games with an unbeaten record of 13 men’s singles victories in three appearances.
He also won the singles gold at the 2006 (Melbourne) and 2010 (New Delhi) editions but did not play in 2014 in Glasgow.
Following today’s men’s singles success, Chong Wei became the most successful Malaysian athlete in the Commonwealth Games with five gold and one silver each.
When met at the mixed zone, Chong Wei quipped: "A veteran won today. Definitely my sweetest win as it is my final outing.
"My win meant Malaysia have achieved their Commonwealth Games target. I was determined today as our badminton team did not play as well as expected in some events.
"I will continue to work hard in training to extend my playing career as long as possible. This is definitely a huge motivation for the Thomas Cup and Asian Games.”
On the final, Chong Wei said: "I did not focus on anything else except for my game in the match.
"I told myself that I must do my best in my final outing. The pressure was there but I kept my mind on the game. I did not give up and kept on fighting.
"The turning point of the match was my win in the second game. After a few points in the third game, my confidence grew as Srikanth was making simple mistakes.
"Furthermore, Srikanth hardly changed his strokes to add variety. I played with speed to keep up with him and won. It was a tiring match," he added.
A disappointed Srikanth said: “I made a lot of unforced errors and could not keep my tempo up.
“When you play Chong Wei, you cannot expect to beat him when you make mistakes,” said Srikanth.