RIO DE JANEIRO – China’s Chen Long stepped out of compatriot Lin Dan’s shadow to spoil Lee Chong Wei’s hopes of a golden Olympic swansong and win the men’s badminton title on Saturday.

The Malaysian’s conqueror at successive world championship finals in 2014-15, the rangy Chinese was majestic in the 21-18 21-18 title-decider, soaking up fierce pressure and smashing through Lee’s defences at a heaving Riocentro.

In a career dominated by near-misses, Lee lost his third successive final after being beaten by Chinese great Lin for the gold in Beijing and London.

Viktor Axelsen celebrated Denmark’s second medal of the tournament by edging twice champion Lin 15-21 21-10 21-17 in the playoff for bronze, denying the Chinese great a medal in his Olympic swansong.

Highlights from Olympics 2016

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AFP, Reuters, The Straits Times

RIO DE JANEIRO – Chinese superstar Lin Dan, regarded by some as badminton’s greatest-ever player, batted off retirement talk after leaving the Rio Games empty-handed Saturday with a bronze-medal-match defeat to Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen.

The double Olympic champion took the first set 21-15 but tired to lose the following two games 21-10, 21-17 in a defeat that likely brought the curtain down on his hallowed Games career.

“I was pretty drained from yesterday’s match,” Lin told reporters, referring to his semi-final defeat to arch-nemesis Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia on Friday.

“However in the third game of today’s match I think my opponent got lucky because there were several shots at the net that I didn’t perform very well,” he added.

Lin – a five-time world champion – won gold at Beijing 2008 and London 2012, beating Lee in both finals but he was unable to repeat those heroics in Brazil.

In the last-four match, Lin won the first game 21-15 but lost the second 21-11 before his dreams of a third consecutive Olympic gold medal were shattered with a 22-20 defeat in the third.

Saturday’s third-place match loss to Axelsen was almost certainly the last time that Lin, who turns 33 later this year, would grace the Olympic stage.

Rio was the tattooed Lin’s fourth Olympics and he is expected to have retired by the time Tokyo 2020 comes around. He will be 36 when the next Games start.

But Lin, nicknamed “Super Dan”, insisted he hadn’t been giving retirement much thought and said for now he just needed to recover from Rio before making any decisions.

“I haven’t thought about it that much,” he said, when asked if Rio would be his last Olympics.

“I just focused myself fully on this Olympic Games. After this one I will rest for a while and then make a decision,” added Lin, a five-time world champion.

Axelsen paid tribute to Lin, who he watched first-hand in China at the Olympics eight years ago while only a teenager.

“No, I would have thought that maybe he would have retired before I reached this level,” the 22-year-old Dane said when asked if he could ever have imagined beating his badminton hero for a bronze medal.

“But I’m really, really happy that I managed to do this. I’ve been watching Lin since I was a little kid.

“This is so special for me and it’s really hard to describe in words how I feel,” Axelsen added.

Highlights from Olympics 2016

Click on thumbnail to view photos. Source: 

AFP, Reuters, The Straits Times

RIO DE JANEIRO – Chinese superstar Lin Dan, regarded by some as badminton’s greatest-ever player, left the Rio Games empty-handed on Saturday after losing the men’s singles bronze medal match to Viktor Axelsen.

The Danish 22-year-old came from behind to win 15-21, 21-10, 21-17 and likely bringing the curtain down on the double Olympic champion’s hallowed Games career.

Lin, who topped the podium at Beijing 2008 and London 2012, was unable to repeat those heroics in Brazil, falling to old rival Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia in Friday’s semi-final.

Saturday’s third-place match was almost certainly the last time that Lin, who turns 33 later this year, would grace the Olympic stage.

Rio was the tattooed Lin’s fourth Olympics and he is expected to have retired by the time Tokyo 2020 comes around.

Lin, nicknamed “Super Dan”, is a five-time world champion.

Click on thumbnail to view photos. Source: 

AFP, Reuters, The Straits Times