Lin Dan will beat Lee Chong Wei: Ronald Susilo

They are the top two badminton players in the world and are set for a titanic semi-final clash in the men’s singles of the Olympics on Friday.

Malaysia’s world number one Lee Chong Wei is expected to win his quarter-final against world number seven Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei on Wednesday, which should see him face Lin Dan on Friday for a spot in the final.

Lin, ranked world number three, is the favourite against India’s Srikanth Kidambi, India’s world number 11.
Lin will be Lee’s ultimate test as he bids to capture a historic first Olympic gold for Malaysia, after falling at the final hurdle in the last two finals against his Chinese opponent in 2008 and 2012.

Former Singapore badminton star Ronald Susilo, who famously beat then world-number one Lin at the 2004 Olympics, believes Lee will take the title if he passes his Chinese examination.

“To me, Chong Wei is still technically, in terms of skill, superior to all others, except maybe Lin Dan,” he told Yahoo Singapore on Tuesday morning over the phone.

“I am expecting a good match but I think he will still prevail [against Chou]. The semi-final will be the deciding factor – if he passes Lin Dan, I guess he will get the gold medal as by then. His self-confidence will be very high.”

It will not be an easy task for the 33-year-old, who has never won an Olympic or world title. Apart from losing the last two Olympic finals against Lin, Lee had also come off second-best in two world championship finals in 2011 and 2013.

Lin can handle pressure better

In last year’s world championships, Lee lost in the final to Chen Long, China’s world number two. A gold medal showdown is expected between Lee and Chen if Lee makes it to the final. Lee’s only other world championship medal was a bronze in 2005, where he lost to Indonesia’s Taufik Hidayat in the semi-finals.

Lee did beat Lin earlier this year in the semi-finals of the Asian championships en-route to taking the gold, but Susilo feels that he will fall short against his “nemesis” in major championships again.

The 37-year-old, now the head coach of the Ronaldo Susilo Badminton Academy, feels that the weight of expectations on Lee will be too much to bear. In contrast, he believes Lin has proven his capability to handle pressure – at the 2011 world championship final, he saved two match points to beat Lee, while he came back from losing the first game and trailing most of the time in the third to beat Lee once again.

“Lin Dan has won two Olympics, he has achieved everything, whereas Chong Wei hasn’t won any world titles and this Olympics will [likely] be the last one for him,” Susilo explained.

“The pressure will definitely be on him… I think Lin Dan should handle the pressure much better. At the last Olympics, during the tight points, he was still very calm despite trailing, so that’s where he’s slightly better than Chong Wei.

“Chong Wei will be very motivated… [but] if you ask me for a prediction, I will still pick Lin Dan [to win].”

Singapore has long way to go

Regardless of who wins, both Lee and Lin have dominated men’s badminton for the past decade or so, despite there being far younger players out there. According to Susilo, this proves their incredible skill and more crucially, the importance of experience.

“Experience will help you a lot in playing efficiently,” he said. “You won’t waste a lot of energy in the game, you know how to control your own pace and apart from that, handle the pressure during tight points.”

This experience is something Singapore’s own shuttlers need to learn from. Both Derek Wong and Liang Xiaoyu were eliminated at in the men’s and women’s singles at the group stages respectively at this Games
It is likely to be Wong’s last Olympics, while the 19-year-old Liang still has many potential editions in store and Susilo believes Singapore still has some way to go before they can challenge at the top level. “Loh Kean Yew (aged 18) is the closest to Derek, but the gap is still very big,” he said.

“For the women’s, I think we have Yeo Jiamin (aged 17) starting to prove herself, but she still has a lot to improve on. Xiaoyu is still young… this girl is a fighter, but she needs to polish up her skills and improve her killing instinct.

“It will take some time before Singapore can make a mark on the world map.”