Lee Yong Dae, Korean Men’s Doubles: outstanding performance not enough to gain gold for Korea.

[VICTOR] The badminton final of the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games on 15 November seemed to be a repeat of the drama from the Doha Asian Games, with the South Korea men’s team meeting China on the battlefield. In the end, China defeated their equally-matched Korean rivals in a display of better performance and gained their second Asian Games men’s title. The Chinese women’s team, too, bravely marched into battle against Thailand and likewise snatched the gold again.

The South Korea men’s team was determined to have its revenge this year after losing to China at the Doha Asian Games, and prepared to challenge China’s at this year’s Games; but today China proved to be the strongest power in the game. The first bout of the contest, the men’s singles, was taken by super-pro Lin Dan without a hitch. In the next bout, the men’s doubles, Korea’s Lee Yong Dae / Jung Jae Sung beat Cai Yun / Fu Haifeng, currently seventh in the world, 21-17, 20-22, 24-22, to regain ground for Korea. In the next bout, Yoo Yeon Seong / Ko Sung Hyun fought bravely against the untiring Chinese team, but they were unable to carry the momentum of the counterattack and were beaten back. Korea’s 1-3 was no match for the Chinese team in the end, with the second consecutive Asian Games silver for Korea.

In the women’s event, the up-and-coming Inthanon Ratchanok led Thailand, the formidable Southeast Asian opponent, against gold-getting China; both sides displayed a show of strength, but China effortlessly swept up Thailand to take another gold with three straight sets.