Reuters
Jakarta, August 16: China’s Chen Long produced a fitting display for a top seed and defending champion to claim a second straight world title with a pulsating 21-14, 21-17 victory against Malaysian Lee Chong Wei here Sunday.
Lee has topped the world rankings for a record 298 weeks during a long and illustrious career but once again came up short against a Chinese player at the top of his game in a fourth world championships final defeat in as many matches.
Once Chen took the lead at 11-10, he looked unstoppable and reeled off 16-of-20 points to claim the opening game before storming out of the blocks in the second to forge a six-point lead by the interval.
Lee battled gamely as Chen’s intensity levels dropped but the Malaysian was unable to get any closer than within two points of his opponent in the second game as a packed Istora Senayan roared in approval.
“Lee is a good player but I was better today (Sunday),” Chen said in a courtside interview after the final. “This is a very special arena, so it feels great to win the world title here.”