(Photo from People's Daily Overseas Edition)
The best person will win the game
Opponents always meet on the field. Chinese badminton player Lin Dan will meet his old opponent Lee Chongwei from Malaysia at 2012 London Olympic Games.
In terms of ability, both have been being the champions of men's badminton singles for many years and both are frequent competitors of the badminton finals. No other badminton players can catch up with them so far.
As for fame, Lin is the only Chinese among the 11 Olympic stars recommended by the U.S. Associated Press while Lee is awarded the title of "honorary major" and is the hope of Malaysia.
They can be said the genuine opponents but they have different achievements. Lin has won men's badminton singles grand slam while Lee gained nothing but the championship of group phases, and he even is dubbed "the eternal runner-up."
If Lin wins the game in London, he will be the number one in men's badminton singles competitions; if Lee wins the game, he will break the curse of "always losing to Lin."
Being different with Lin and Lee, Liu Xiang and Dayron Robles have similar achievements. Liu had taken the crown at the 110-meter hurdles in 2004 Athens Olympic Games and broke a world record in 2006. Then, the relatively young Robles broke Liu's record and won championship at 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
The two players are competitors and have an estrangement because Robles had hacked Liu’s hand during the 2011 Athletics World Championships final. It had stirred up dissatisfaction from Liu's fans. The London Olympic Games maybe is the final battle between them.
Contrast to Liu and Robles, tennis players Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal look a little high-profile.
Federer just won the most recent Wimbledon Championships and reclaimed the world’s top seed so he is confident to take the crown in both the men's tennis singles and doubles competition.
Spain's famous tennis player Nadal will be the flag bearer and will hope to appear at the London Olympic Games at 100 percent, although he is suffering from knee injuries.
Thus, they probably will give a "greatest duel in the history of tennis" in London.
Related Reading:
(I) What to expect at London Olympics: Introduction
(II) What to expect at London Olympics: Participating countries
(III) What to expect at London Olympics: Strong teams
(IV) What to expect at London Olympics: Opponents
