BIRMINGHAM, England, 13 March 2005 — Chen Hong earned himself a chance of regaining the All England Open men’s singles title by reaching the final for the third time in four years at Britain’s national indoor arena.
The fourth-seeded Chinese player won a fascinating 54-minute tussle with Lee Chong Wei, the seventh-seeded Malaysian, which was a wonderful contrast of styles, and contained two exciting changes of fortunes.
In the end, Chen’s 15-13, 15-10 victory depended on his adaptability, and an ability to find ways other than through his acrobatic steep smash to win points, playing many of the rallies patiently at the slower pace which Lee skillfully generated. So well did the developing 22-year-old from Penang achieve that — with sliced drops and clever pushes to the net — that he held dangerous leads of 11-7 in the first game and 10-7 in the second, with a clear pattern emerging of how he might win.
Lee was clearly very pumped up to do so, once getting himself into trouble with his celebration after making an amazing block to the net from near his ankles and going on to win the point amidst a thunder of applause.
It appeared to rouse Lee to shake his fist at Chen, moving close to the net as he did so and staring straight at his opponent. For that misdemeanor, the British umpire Robbie Lindlay summoned Lee to his chair and warned him.
However the Malaysian suddenly and perhaps unwisely opted for all-out attack at the end of the first game, losing three crucial points that way, but in the second Chen carefully maneuvered his way out of difficulty.
Later Zhang Ning, the World and Olympic champion from China, reached the women’s singles final, overcoming the surprise survivor from Japan, Eriko Hirose, by 11-4, 9-11, 11-1.
