Thomas Cup and the Thailand Open in early June, a fatigued Lin lost in the semifinals to Indonesia's highly capable Sony Dwi Kuncoro. At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Lin routinely beat Ireland's Scott Evans to qualify for the main draw of sixteen players where he started by trouncing fading star Taufik Hidayat. In the quarterfinals, however, Japan's hard-fighting Sho Sasaki put Lin to the test before yielding 16-21 in the third game. Lin then handily beat South Korean veteran Lee Hyun-il in the semifinals to set up yet another meeting with his chief rival Lee Chong Wei. Unlike the 2008 Olympic final this one was no cakewalk for Lin. He lost the first game to Lee but came back strongly to take the second. The rubber game was a thriller which saw Lin claw back from slight deficits most of the way to finally prevail 21-19 An ecstatic Lin thus became the first men's singles player to retain the Olympic title, while Lee, now almost 30, was once again foiled at one of the sport's two biggest events (aside from the Thomas and Uber Cups), the Olympics and the World Championships. 2013 After his 2012 Olympic victory Lin did not make another tournament appearance until the 2013 Badminton Asia Championships, in April where, citing injury, he withdrew from the quarterfinals. Amid some speculation that he was planning to retire, Lin was granted a special wild card entry into the World Championships in Guangzhou, as, despite his great achievements, his recent inactivity had caused his world ranking to fall below that of other Chinese players who would then normally fill the maximum quota of three entrants that any one country was allowed. Without appearing in any tournament between the Badminton Asia Champiohships in April and the World Championships in August, Lin was able to convert this wildcard entry into his fifth world title. He won all of his matches in straight games until the final where, yet again, hard-luck Lee Chong Wei could not quite catch him in the third game rubber, and was forced to submit with a painful cramp down 17-20. 2014 After seven month tournament absence, Lin, down to 104th in the official world rankings, returned in April and took titles in the China Masters and the Badminton Asia Championships in quick succession. Lin was part of China's Thomas Cup team which defended its title in