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29 March 2024

Lee strolls towards gold, cash reward

Saina Nehwal of India plays against Susan Egelstaff of Scotland in the women’s singles badminton semifinal. (AFP)

Published
By AFP
World number one Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia overwhelmed third-seeded Indian Chetan Buradagunta 21-11 21-12 on Tuesday to reach the Commonwealth Games final, edging closer to gold and a bumper pay day.
Lee has conceded a mere 86 points in eight games in four matches, and is an even more overwhelming favourite to win the title again than when he started the tournament.
The top seed has been so dominant, with his gliding movement and geometrical precision, that he looks almost certain to equal the achievement of his compatriot Rashid Sidek in 1994, the only player successfully to defend the men’s singles title.
Lee sometimes does not appear for interviews, says little when he does, and gives the impression that he is so focussed that he feels this tournament almost as like a world championship.
Up to a point that may be so, because Lee is probably on a significant win bonus - rumours have it as 80,000 Malaysian ring-gits ($25,000).
Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) officials reportedly increased the win bonus for their players or pairs at the world championships in Paris in August from $9,500 to $15,000 because they had been dissatisfied with results.
BAM high performance director James Selvaraj, said recently: “I am tired of our players holding on to the world number one rankings without winning any major titles. Ranking alone is not enough. I want champions.”
He should have at least one on Thursday, after Wednesday’s rest day when Lee will meet Rajiv Ouseph, who is the second highest ranked player in the tournament at world number 16.
The Englishman did very well to make the final, for he had to overcome both the in-form Indian, Kashyap Parupalli, and another roaring, chanting home crowd.
The score was 19-21 21-11 21-18 with Ouseph coming back from 12-16 down in the final game.
He also survived a controversy over a line decision at 18-18 when the umpire decided his smash had landed on the side-line to put him 19-18 up.
Replays from the giant video replay convinced many of the crowd otherwise, and Ouseph’s victory was greeted first with complete silence, and then with boos. 
The women’s singles final will also involve the top two seeds.
Saina Nehwal, the first Indian woman to win a Super Series title, has reached the final without dropping a game as well after outplaying Susan Egelstaff, the third-seeded Scot, by 21-10, 21-17.
Nehwal’s next opponent is Wong Mew Choo, who gave her such a great match in the team final on Friday, but who had to fight surprisingly hard to earn a repeat.
The second-seeded Malaysian encountered Liz Cann, the English national champion, inspired to produce her best performance of the tournament, and Wong needed to make a late push to survive 21-12 18-21 21-17.
Both the top two seeds will contest the finals of the men’s and women’s doubles, but the mixed doubles will see the Malaysians’ occasional pairing of Koo Kien Keat and Chin Eei Hui, make their attempt to win the title unseeded.
This is hardly a surprise though as Koo forms the world’s number one ranked pair in men’s doubles with Tan Boon Heong, and he reached the final in this discipline as well.
Koo and Chin will play Nathan Robertson, who holds the mixed title with Gail Emms, and his partner of the past two years, Jenny Wallwork.
Robertson and Wallwork nevertheless had to save two match points at 18-20 in the final game against Chan Peng Soon and Liu Ying Goh, the fourth seeded Malaysians, before squeezing home 19-21 21-13 23-21.