Taipei: Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) technical director Morten Frost applauded the resilience of Lee Chong Wei after he came up short against world number one Chen Long in the Chinese Taipei Open quarter-finals on Friday.
Even though Lee Chong Wei lost the match with 21-17, 20-22, 13-21, but Chen Long was forced to work hard throughout the match before he edged out Lee Chong Wei in 77 minutes.
“It was a very close match between Chong Wei and Chen Long,” said Morten Frost.
“Chen Long played very strong defense, and winning the second set was the key to his victory,” added Frost.
“In the decider, Chong Wei came back from 7-11 to pull ahead with 12-11, then a sudden surge in the momentum of Chen Long allowed him to reel off seven points, and to win the match.”
“Overall, Chen Long was just slightly better on the day.”
Despite the loss in the Chinese Taipei quarter-final, Frost was highly impressed with Lee Chong Wei’s competitiveness throughout the match and believes that his performance as of late bodes well for the World Championships in Jakarta next month.
“It’s better to lose today and not in Jakarta. Being the underdog in this year’s World Championships, hopefully Chong Wei could play to his advantage over the other.”
