Defending Olympic champion Chen Long knocked out No. 2 seed Chou Tien Chen in the quarter-final today at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics to set up a semi-final match against Indonesia’s Anthony Sinisuka Ginting tomorrow.
In today’s quarter-final match, Chen Long took the first game comfortably with a score of 21-14 after racing off to an initial lead of 17-7. Chen however found difficulty in controlling his lifts after the change of sides and gave away the second game 9-21.
The third game was closely fought until 15-14, when the experienced 32-year-old Chen sensed the right time to go up a gear to race off and win the next 6 points and win the match with a final scoreline of 21-14, 9-21, 21-14.
With this quarter-final win, Chen Long keeps his hope alive to better Lin Dan’s record at the Olympics. If Chen wins the gold medal at Tokyo, he will become the most successful men’s singles player at the Olympics with a tally of 2 gold medals and 1 bronze medal.
In tomorrow’s semi-final, Indonesian favourite Ginting leads the head-to-head record 8-4 against Chen Long, of which Ginting has won the last two encounters, both in straight games!
The match will showcase a contrasting style of gameplay – one of the best attacks against one of the best defences.
Will the super quick, attacking Ginting upset the defending champion or will the defending champion prove the head-to-head record insignificant?
