The Hindu : Sport / Badminton : Lin Dan, the man to beat

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Tuesday, Aug 05, 2008
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Lin Dan, the man to beat

Rakesh Rao

He is arguably the ‘bad’ boy of badminton. Lin Dan stays as much in the news for being the World No. 1 since 2006 as for his temper and brute show of arrogance.

Therefore, for more reasons than one, this controversial Chinese star will be the man to beat for the men’s Olympic gold in Beijing this month.

The 24-year-old left-hander from the Fujian province made a shocking first-round exit in Athens four years ago after facing Singapore’s Roland Susilo.

This time, in his own backyard, Lin Dan is expected to go all the way. During his quest for gold, he is also looking to win over fans in this globally televised event.

At the same time, he will hope his girlfriend and World No. 1 Xie Xingfang also has a ‘golden’ run.

Leading contenders

Going by form and the head-to-head records among the leading contenders, Lin Dan looks unstoppable.

He leads Malaysia’s Lee Chong Wei, ranked second in the world, 8:3 and teammates Bao Chunlai 16:6 and Chen Jin 5:2. Against Chen Jin, ranked fourth and one behind Bao Chunlai, Lin Dan lost both his matches this year.

Interestingly, few have taken these reverses seriously since the head-to-head record featuring two Chinese players means little especially in the Olympic year. It is widely believed to be a common practice in China, especially in disciplines like badminton and table tennis, to ensure a particular winner of an all-Chinese match.

In this case, Chen Jin’s ‘surprise’ victories in March and April helped him enter the top-four bracket in men’s ranking ahead of the Olympic Games.

It will be interesting to see how Lin Dan conducts himself before his home fans this month. In spite of winning the World crown in 2006 and 2007 apart from three All England titles in four years, Lin Dan’s temperament is known to be suspect.

Bad loser

His on-court aggression has often ended up in a display of arrogance. He is known to be a ‘bad’ loser even in China.

In fact, in April this year, a news item appeared in China Daily in April this year that Lin Dan punched his coach and Sydney Olympic champion Ji Xinpeng during a training session.

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