Watching Chong Wei playing Peter Gade Christensen in the semi final of the Malaysia Open is an absolute thrill. I have a lot of respect for Peter Gade, a real fighter who never give up and a highly rated badminton player with unrivaled sportsmanship. The first game was so nail-biting, so intense, you can hear it from the supporting Malaysian crowd. A few controversial line calls, but that did not affect the fighting spirit and sportmanship of both players. Chong Wei seemed to be a bit nervous, despite of early lead, he eventually gave up the first game 24-26. That was by far the best game I have seen in this year Malaysian Open. Both players taking lead many times before Chong Wei finally had to surrender to the highly motivated Danish.
After winning the second game 21-17, I roughly predicted that Chong Wei will win the third game and make him through to the final. True enough, age is not on Peter Gade's side, tiredness and exhaustibility slowed him down, he simply could not match the supreme fitness and confidence of his younger exponent and went down 13-21.
At the age of 32, Peter Gade has already passed his prime age as a sportsman. Despite losing two consecutive matches to Chong Wei, in Super Series Master final in Sabah a couple of weeks ago and the semi-final in Malaysian Open, Pater Gade remain one of highly rated badminton player because of his fighting spirit. Our younger players should learn from this tremedous sportsman, despite nearing retirement, Peter Gade fights every match with strong determination and never say die attitude. This is what lacking in our players nowadays, you know what I'm referring to if you watch how Chow Wei lost to Lin Dan in the 2008 Olmypic final.
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