Olympic champion Lin Dan had a thrilling preparation for the defence of his title at next year's Games here when he saved two match points to beat top-seeded Lee Chong Wei in a sensational world championship final on Sunday.
The Chinese star held off the challenge of the Malaysian heir apparent by 20-22, 21-14, 23-21 in 81 minutes after trailing 19-20 and 20-21 in the final game of the best contest yet between the two great men's singles rivals.
Lin's triumph was the highlight of a day in which China again set records, becoming the first nation successfully to defend all five world titles. It achieved the full hand at the Stade Pierre de Coubertin in Paris last year.
It was also Lin's fourth world title but it would not have happened had he not unleashed a thrilling jump smash on the first match point against him and then lifted the shuttle deep enough to bring an overhead drop error from Lee on the second.
“I just didn't think too much about the result on the match points,” said Lin afterwards. “I tried to focus on what I was doing.”
{{/usCountry}}“I just didn't think too much about the result on the match points,” said Lin afterwards. “I tried to focus on what I was doing.”
{{/usCountry}}Wang Yihan won the women’s title.