YONEX Thailand Open: ‘A Perfect Birthday Gift’
Classmates and friends since elementary school, Lee Yang gave Wang Chi-Lin a perfect birthday present with the duo winning their first HSBC BWF World Tour Super 1000 event at the YONEX Thailand Open.
· DEV SUKUMAR
Wang, who turns 26 tomorrow, joked that back then, his friend was “short and fat… and I didn’t like his skill, because it was so good”.
The world No.7 pair had to slog hard against Malaysians Goh V Shem and Tan Wee Kiong in a match of fluctuating fortunes. Lee had blown a match point in the second game with a shot that took the tape and fell just wide, and despite leading 19-13 in the third, Lee and Wang were on edge. Wang said he went blank in the third when the Malaysians closed down their lead to within a couple of points.
It took all of the Malaysians’ craftiness to keep the forceful physical play of their opponents at bay; as they narrowed the gap in the third with anticipation and clever placement, it appeared for a moment that they might replicate their success of the second game. All it would take for that to unravel, however, was an error or two.