London, England: With its reputation sullied by the disqualification of four women’s doubles teams for deliberately trying to lose their matches, badminton needed a boost to help restore its reputation on the Olympic stage. At Wembley Arena on Sunday, the best of Asia did just that in a magnificent men’s singles final between great rivals Lin Dan of China and Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia.

The Chinese left-hander prevailed 15-21, 21-10, 21-19 in a contest that showcased the best the sport has to offer: agility, mobility, lightning reflexes, power, precision and the most delicate of touches. The huge crowd, with the flags of China and Malaysia filling the arena, lapped it up and, as they have done at all venues and to all athletes from all over the globe, responded with roars of approval or sighs of disappointment.

Lin, the Guangzhou Asian Games MVP in 2010 and defending Olympic champion from Beijing 2008, is a natural showman as well as a natural athlete and supreme badminton talent. After winning the last three points from 18-19 down in the deciding game to clinch the title 21-19, Lin raced around the court towards the stands and threw his sweat-soaked shirt to the crowd. His coach eventually caught him up and they embraced in joy.

On returning to the court, Lin showed his sportsmanship by embracing the distraught Lee - a move that earned more applause from the crowd – and then saluting the flag, as a member of the People’s Liberation Army club. At the victory ceremony, Lin milked the applause before hopping on to the podium and putting his hand to his ear to encourage more cheers from the spectators. After kissing the gold medal several times, he sat down on the podium for the most casual of photos shoots following the ceremony protocol.

He still had time to throw his bouquet of flowers to the crowd and sign autographs for fans before the round of TV and media interviews. “It is not easy to retain this gold medal after four years,” he said. “I have sacrificed a lot since 2008 because many good athletes have wanted to take this medal, so right now this is a positive result for all my effort and sacrifice.”

Lin admitted to starting the match too casually due to his previous successes, but was forced to up his game when the Malaysian capitalized to win the first game. Looking at the big picture, “Super Dan” said badminton needed to work together to promote itself around the world, not only in Asia. With more showmen and entertainers like Lin Dan himself, this should not be a problem.