PUTRAJAYA, Aug 19 — Malaysians expressed greater confidence in Datuk Lee Chong Wei’s capability to bag an Olympic gold in the badminton men’s singles final tomorrow night in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil after the national shuttler trumped over his arch-rival Lin Dan.

Lee defeated Lin 15-21, 21-11, 22-20 in a gruelling 90-minute semi-final match up that was witnessed by almost 500 people at Dataran Putrajaya in an outdoor screening organised by the Youth and Sports Ministry tonight.

“I was very nervous. That was an extremely nervy ending to the match. My heart was skipping a beat,” said 43-year-old Mohd Yusof Ahmad immediately after Lee broke the match-point in the third set, which met with jubilation from the crowd.

Mohd Yusof said that he is now confident that Lee will end his Olympic outing by bringing home the much coveted gold medal.

In tomorrow’s gold match, Lee will be battling China’s Chen Long.

“I am confident now that we would win. I think it can be done,” he added.

Faidzal Fadzil, 21, said Lin represented Lee’s “biggest hurdle” and clearing it puts him on good stead for the gold medal.

“Lin Dan is the biggest hurdle. So if there is no complacency and we manage to maintain the same level of performance, I think we can do it,” he said.

Mohd Amin Abdullah, 23, also said the final moments of the closely fought match caused him plenty of nerves, but is now more relaxed and confident about the final.

“Having beaten Lin Dan, I think winning the final is a realistic objective for us now,” he said.

In both the 2008 and 2012 Olympics, Lee lost to Lin Dan in the final matches and had to settle for silver medal on both occasions.

In Kota Kinabalu, many families and adults came out in droves to watch the games in the public and were euphoric with Lee’s win.

“That game was incredible, it should be the finals. Both played really well but Chong Wei had the focus to win.

“That last strike was out of this world” said Lester Baring, a car salesman who watched the match at a mamak stall in Damai, here.

Elaine Ching, who was watching the match with her colleagues at Soul’d Out in Imago shopping centre said she was on tenterhooks especially during the third match which saw the Malaysian and Chinese badminton titans go point-for-point till Lee won.

“That was the most exciting match I’ve watched this Olympics. I think most of us nearly had a heart attack during that last game.

“What a match. Thank you Lee Chong Wei,  he was a true sportsman! I think he made us all so proud regardless of how he does in the finals,” said the 24-year-old part-time singer and entrepreneur.