Foul!

China's top player Chen Long had a good day in Birmingham after defeating world No 1 Lee Chong Wei 21-17, 21-18 in the All-England men's singles final that ended minutes ago. Chong Wei had a rough start in the first set as he was at one time trailing 7-0. Chong Wei was also a pale shadow of his true self in the second half despite putting up a better performance compared to the first set. Both players have met 13 times to date with Chong Wei still having the advantage of winning seven of their previous matches since the 2009 India Open. This could very well be Chong Wei's last All-England outing as the younger elite players take over the scene. HD says: No hat-trick for Chong Wei.

Congratulations to national shuttler Liew Daren ( pic from BWF ) who finally netted his first international at the French Open over the weekend. Daren defeated Danish player Viktor Axelsen 21-18, 21-17 in the men's singles final. So what is next for Daren? To immediately expect Daren to fill the shoes of top national player Lee Chong Wei is somewhat foolish. After all, this is only the beginning and consistency is key. Nevertheless, NST's Ajitpal Singh had this to say; Although none of the top five ranked shuttlers were in Paris, Daren's achievement should not be written off as a fluke as he did beat several other established players for the title. Read his full article here . True and it is only fair for the stakeholders and fans to motivate him further to gun more honours. After all, Peter Gade's retirement not too long ago may ignite a domino effect among the other 'aging' stars including Taufik Hidayat, Chong Wei, Lin Dan. With their absenc...

IT was 79 minutes that kept fans at the edge of their seats. Malaysians were all hoping for a fairy tale ending – the perfect gift to celebrate the nation’s 55th birthday and to end the Olympic gold medal drought. It was supposed to be a picture of jubilation where top national shuttler Lee Chong Wei was to kiss the Jalur Gemilang on his track top as he held the gold medal with pride. The Negaraku was supposed to echo within the walls of the Wembley Arena, at an Olympic event for the first time. But it was not meant to be. Instead, it was déjà vu for badminton lovers. History repeated itself in a cruel manner as the same pictures that splashed the local dailies in 2008 Beijing will be seen again tomorrow – the picture of Lin Dan biting the gold medal with Chong Wei playing bridesmaid with the silver medal around his neck. The third placed is dominated by the Chens – at the 2008 Beijing Olympics it was Chen Jin and at the London edition it was Chen Long. Desp...