Miracle

It's a drama in the Malaysia open which ended in the evening. Lee Chong Wei met world number one Lin Dan in the men single finals. Lee Chong Wei won quite easily in the first set 21-18 and was leading in the second set. Lin Dan came back strongly in the middle of second set when he overcame Chong Wei 21-18. The most exciting part of the match was in the rubber set. Lin Dan was leading all the way in the third set and was on match point 20-14. Under the new scoring format system, every point counts. This mean that Lin Dan needed only one point (though Chong Wei is serving) to deny Chong Wei a treble. Whereas Chong Wei could not afford a single mistake and need to get a straight 6 points to get points leveled. At that time, I thought that Lin Dan would have definitely won the tournament. But miracle happens! Chong Wei won a straight 6 points and forced a deuce! They both get a point before Chong Wei snatch 2 points to win a classic match 23-21.

It seems that the linesman decision last year is still haunting Lin Dan. I was in the Cheras Badminton Stadium last year, watching Lee Chong Wei beating Lin Dan in the finals. The linesman made a few decisions that were in favour of Chong Wei and that had indirectly led Chong Wei to the champion last year. Lin Dan was very furious at the linesman decision and the game was abandoned for a while. The Chinese coach even protest to the match officials. Though I was supporting Chong Wei, I felt sorry for Lin Dan. Instead I felt ashamed as a Malaysian for organizing such an unjust competition. Last year, Lin Dan didn't lose to Chong Wei. He lost to the linesman. However this time round, the umpire has conducted a fair game.

This year, the linesman made some mistake during the game but the decision was against Chong Wei. When the points were leveled at 20-20 in the third set, the lineman made a crucial decision by ruling the shuttlecock out of Lin Dan's court though on the TV replay it was clearly in. This put Lin Dan on the match point again. However Chong Wei got 3 straight points to win the game. It was definitely a dream win for Chong Wei. As for Lin Dan, it's like the Chinese saying, "The cooked duck flies away". The commentator even said Chong Wei had used some badminton "magic" to win this game.Lin Dan was very furious after the game and he thrown his racquet away. I saw the umpire taking a red card out, however he didn't direct it to anyone. As far as I'm concerned, in badminton a red card means that a point will be awarded to the opponent. But the game is over, what is the meaning of giving a red card?During the prize giving ceremony, Lin Dan was clearly in a bad mood. He took the silver medal down after the prize giver put it around his neck. He even rejected an offer to wear a "Mulu Songkok" on his head by the prize giver. I could understand Lin Dan's feeling losing a game so close to victory. However I feel that he should not have acted such an unsportsmanship behavior.

Before this, I thought that superb "comeback" would only happen in the world of football. This is the first time I witness such a tremendous match in badminton. Saying of "comeback" everyone would immediately thought of Liverpool's Champions league final against AC Milan last season. Liverpool was 3-0 down and they score three goals in seven minutes in the second half and later won on penalties. This season English FA cup final also witnessed Liverpool equalizer during additional time 2-2 and later beating West Ham on penalties. On both occasion I thought that we are going to lose, however miracle happens. It's great when the team you support win the match in the dying minutes. However, if you are supporting the other side, you will be very very frustrated.

I remember in EURO 2004, where England met France. England was leading 1-0 and got a penalty. However Beckham missed that penalty and the scoreline remains the same. England looks good on beating France until almost the end of the game where Zidane scored a free kick and a penalty to record a classic win against England. I was supporting England and it was hard for me to accept the fact that England lost. I remember that the game ended on a Monday morning(5am). I woke(in fact I didn't sleep) up for my 8am class still wondering how Barthez had saved Beckham's penalty. One thing interesting is that on all 3 matches, there was a player in common that get involved - Steven Gerard. In the England match against France, he was the one who made a back pass which left Henry on a one on one against David James which later led to a penalty converted by Zidane. In the Champions League Final, the Liverpool skipper was the one who scored the first goal for Liverpool to fight back against AC Milan. In the FA Cup final, Gerrard scored from 30 yards in the injury time to make the scoreline 2-2 for Liverpool.

In the world cup 2006, there are also some dramatic equalizer(Tunisia ?Saudi Arabia 2-2) and some dramatic win(Germany - Poland 1-0, Sweden - Paraguay 1-0). In all those matches, the last goal is scored in the dying minutes (either in 90 minutes or in the injury time). The Australia - Japan match also ended in style when Australia scored 3 goals in the 84, 89 and 90 minute to record a win against Japan. But that's not all, let's pray that more drama and miracle will happen in the Germany world cup 2006.