LONDON, Aug 3 (Bernama) -- Will Malaysia''s Olympics gold medal draught end
this Sunday?.
The answer to Malaysia''s long awaited gold medal for the country in an
Olympics most likely lies on the shoulders of national shuttler Datuk Lee Chong
Wei who has qualified for the men''s singles final of the badminton competition
at the ongoing London Olympics here.
Trailing in his footsteps are Malaysia''s men''s doubles pair Koo Kean Keat
and Tan Boon Heong, ranked eight in the world, who will also be in contention to
do the same in the badminton competition if they prevail in their semifinal
encounter tomorrow.
Chong Wei, the world number two and the top seed of the tournament, beat
Cheng Long of China 21-13, 21-14 in 54 minutes in today''s semifinals of the
London Olympics badminton competition at the Wembley Arena here.
He will be facing his arch nemesis and defending champion Lin Dan of China
in the final this Sunday.
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OLYMPICS-MALAYSIA (WRAP UP) 2 LONDON
Lin Dan defeated Lee Hyun Il of South Korea 21-12, 21-10 in 39 minutes in
the other semis
Sunday''s clash of the titans will be repeat of the 2008 Beijing Olympics in
which Chong Wei had to play bridesmaid to the man called Super Dan.
In Beijing four years ago, Lin Dan beat Chong Wei 21-12, 21-8 in the final.
Meanwhile, national archer Khairul Anuar Mohamad, who is making his Olympics
debut, missed a semifinal slot after he bowed out 2-6 to Takaharu Furukawa of
Japan in the quarterfinals of the Men''s Recurve Individual event at the Lord''s
Cricket Ground here.
Strong winds at the venue affected Khairul Anuar''s concentration besides
having to contend with Furukawa, who has seen Olympics action three times.
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OLYMPICS-MALAYSIA (WRAP UP) 3 LONDON
However, the world number 20 can take comfort in knowing that he equalled
his senior Cheng Chu Sian''s achievement in the 2008 Beijing Olympics as both the
Malaysians became stranded at the quarter-final stage.
Earlier in the day, he had beaten three times Olympian, Larry Godfrey of
Britain 6-5, after collecting a bulls-eye, 10 points, in the shoot-off when both
archers were tied with 136-136 points in the five ends, to make the
quarterfinals.
At the London Velodrome, national cyclist Fatehah Mustafa had an early exit
from the Games when she failed to be among the top three riders in the Women''s
Keirin first round repechages event.
Fatehah only managed fifth spot out of the six riders competing in Heat 2.
Only the top three riders in each heat qualify for the next round.
Tomorrow, Day Eight of the Games, the focus will be at the Wembley Arena
when national doubles pair Koo Kien Keat/Tan Boon Heong take on world number two
pair CaiYun/Fu Haifeng of China in the semifinals of the badminton men''s doubles
competition.
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OLYMPICS-MALAYSIA (WRAP UP) 4 (LAST) LONDON
The last time a Malaysian men''s pair saw semifinal action in this event was
when Choong Tan Fook/Lee Wan Wah reached that stage in the Sydney Olympics in
2000.
Also tomorrow, Cheong Jun Hoong and Ng Yan Yee will be in action in the
semifinals of the women''s 3m springboard diving event at the London Aquatics
centre while ''Pocket Rocketman'' Mohd Azizulhasni Awang will do battle in the
cycling sprint event.
Elsewhere, Khairulnizam Mohd Afendy will be competing the the men''s Dinghy
individual event in the waters of Weymouth and Portland.
-- BERNAMA
ZAS ZAS HA
