CHINA won the men’s badminton team final Monday night at the Asian Games, defeating a stubborn South Korea 3-1.

    Thailand and Indonesia share bronze.

    Lin Dan beat Park Sung-hwan 19-21, 21-16, 21-18 to put China ahead, but the Koreans stormed back as the pairing of Lee Yong-fae and Chung Jae-dung defeated Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng 21-17, 20-22, 24-22.

    China went 2-1 up overall in the tie when Chen Jin strolled past Son Wan-ho 21-9, 21-15, then sealed the gold with Guo Zhendong and Xu Chen squeezing past Yoo Yeon-deong and Ko Sung-hyun 23-21, 21-17.

    Superstar Lin Dan, touted as the best player ever by some, was far from his brilliant best at the outset, conceding the first game 21-19 to the plucky Park.

    That spurred “Super Dan” to life against the man who dumped him out of the world championships in August in Paris and Lin won the next two games against a fast-tiring Park to win 19-21, 21-16, 21-18 in 71 minutes.

    The Koreans won the next tie in the doubles to make it 1-1, but China, roared on by vociferous home support, would not be denied for long.

    “The start was not satisfactory, I was not doing well and I lost several points,” said Lin, the reigning Olympic champion.

    “I couldn’t keep the advantage when I was leading and let him catch up later, which gave him a lot of confidence in such an important match.

    “I was the first player for my team and also, it’s the final match, so I felt a bit stressed.”

    Park, the world No. 11, said he was disappointed to make so many errors in the final game, but took consolation from knowing he had lost to such a talented player.

    “Everyone knows that Lin Dan is exceptional — I don’t think there’s anyone in the world that can beat him at the moment,” Park said.(SD-Agencies)