Lee Chong Wei

I've not been one for getting all tizzy over sports.

Seriously.

But when a Malaysian makes it to the finals for the sport of Badminton, I gotta say, even the most un-nationalistic Malaysian has to feel some form of pride. I know, because I did.

And that was why, exhausted as I was, I dragged my ass over to my SIL's place to witness sporting history (at least for us Malaysians) in the making.

The possibility of a FIRST GOLD MEDAL in the Olympics.

So the match starts rather unceremoniously and Lee and Lin Dan are at it, lobbing the shuttle back and forth ... and I must say, that from the onset, the first thing SIL and I noticed (being the so-called fashionistas) that our uniform, bless the soul of the one who designed it, looked rather shitty (ahem) and downright boring. *Sponsored by Yonex no less*.

And everytime that Lee 'gave' a point to Lin Dan, I would clap my hands and say "It's ok Lee, I know you're nervous ... shake the nerves out and show him what you're capable off". I'm guessing that 'someone' out there intercepted the message because Lee was trashed by Lin Dan in 2 straight sets 21 - 12 & 21 - 8.

Admittedly, when I first saw Lin Dan (never seen him before, not being one who watches sports anyway), I was astonished ... what happened to the 'classic' badminton player look ... the thin, emaciated, druggy looking players? This guy was BUILT ... all muscle and almost no fat. *ahem* ... This dude was amazingly built and the Chinese uniforms were sponsored by Adidas *ahem*. And it looked amazing. As did the American uniforms (sponsored by Nike). The Malaysian team was decked out in some garish orange looking ensemble with some tiger stripey things ... sigh, a tribute to Maybank perhaps? :P

But in the end, I was still very proud of Lee and I was, begrudgingly so, happy for Lin Dan. Truly. :)