Rio Olympics 2016: China's Chen inflicts heartache on Malaysian Lee

China’s Chen Long inflicted more Olympic heartache on Malaysia’s Lee Chong Wei with a straight games win for gold in the men’s badminton singles final on Saturday.

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Bindiya Bhatt
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Rio Olympics 2016: China's Chen inflicts heartache on Malaysian Lee

Chen Long (Source: Getty)

China’s Chen Long inflicted more Olympic heartache on Malaysia’s Lee Chong Wei with a straight games win for gold in the men’s badminton singles final on Saturday. Chen took both games 21-18 to consign Lee to a third consecutive defeat in an Olympic Games final.

It was a first gold medal for world number two Chen, who won bronze at London 2012, but a third straight silver for the top-ranked Lee.

Despite being one of the sport’s most accomplished players, the Malaysian has never won a world or Olympic title. He lost the previous two Games finals to Chinese arch-rival Lin Dan.

At the age of 33 it is virtually certain that his career will end without that elusive Olympic gold medal while Malaysia’s hunt for a first gold in any sport continues. Chen took an early 11-8 lead in what turned out to be the deciding game before stretching his hold over Lee to 20-15.

There was no way back for the quiet Malaysian and Chen celebrated by running with his shirt off to the Chinese fans at the Riocentro venue.

Rio Olympics 2016 Lee Chong Wei