Lin Dan of China celebrates winning his men's Singles Badminton gold medal match against Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia on Day 9.

Lin Dan successfully defended his Olympic Games crown with another thrilling victory over rival Lee Chong Wei in the London 2012 men's singles final.

In a performance that reasserts his position as arguably the greatest player ever, the Chinese dug deep in a compelling third game to win 15-21 21-10 21-19.

Malaysia's world number one Lee played a full part in an epic contest but was unable to avenge his defeats in the finals at Beijing 2008 and last year's World Championships.

Lin's victory, completed in 79 energy-sapping minutes, made him the first man to retain an Olympic Games Singles title and kept China on course for a clean sweep of Badminton golds.

Some of the rallies were extraordinary, with both players fully committed in defence and attack.

Lee, who in any other era might have won a handful of major titles, started superbly in his quest to finally get the better of Lin on the biggest stage.

But some unforced errors crept into his game early in the second set and allowed Lin to take the match into a decider.

Lee established an 8-5 lead and thought he had taken the next point, but a line judge was overruled on close call and the score became 8-6.

Lin quickly pulled level and the pair traded points until the Chinese snatched victory on his first match point and set off on a lap of honour.