Badminton bad boy Lin shows new, cooler face

By John Ruwitch

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's badminton bad boy Lin Dan turns out not to be so bad after all. Or maybe it is easy to keep your cool when your are in a class of your own.

Either way, the best known player in the People's Liberation Army won the Olympic gold medal in men's singles badminton without giving up one game in five matches before a roaring home crowd.

In the final against world number two Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia -- the Federer-Nadal matchup of badminton -- Lin strode to a 21-12 21-8 victory in just 41 minutes.

The dazzling performance was a far cry from Athens when the 24-year-old lefthander with a reputation for having anger management issues got squashed in the first round.

"Now that I have the gold, the pressure is off and I will enjoy my badminton again," said Lin.

In Beijing there were no outbursts like his public bust-up with South Korea's Chinese coach Li Mao in January.

The other half of China's best known sporting couple, Lin's girlfriend Xie Xingfang, was less successful on the court.

The world women's number one, who won the singles title at the 2006 world championships and the All England in 2006 and 2007, was beaten by 2004 Olympic champion and compatriot Zhang Ning.

Zhang thought she was too old to be competing at Athens in 2004 when she was 29 years old. This year, she defended her title a virtual senior citizen by badminton standards.

China took one other gold medal in Olympic badminton when youthful women's doubles pair Du Jing and Yu Yang beat South Korea's Lee Kyung-won and Lee Hyo-jung.

In mixed doubles, Lee Hyo-jung won gold with partner Lee Yong-dae, beating top-seeded Indonesians Nova Widianto and Liliyana.

Indonesia Hendra Setiawan and Markis Kido won the gold in men's doubles, while China's Fu Haifeng and Cai Yun got the country's first silver in the event.

(Editing by Jeremy Laurence)