Lin Dan returns to the badminton scene
 |
| Lin Dan |
He’s back! Five-times Yonex All England Open champion Lin Dan has won his first Superseries title since his 2012 triumph in Birmingham.
The 30-year-old Chinese former world number one defeated Indonesia’s Singapore Open winner Simon Santoso 22-24 21-16 21-17 in a 75-minute duel to win the Australian Open. The win will push Lin Dan towards the world’s top eight sooner than the year-end goal that he set himself and the hints are that the Asian Games are his next target at the end of September, especially as he is unable to participate for the Li-Ning World Championships in Copenhagen in August despite being the 2013 champion.
The 30-year-old Chinese former world number one defeated Indonesia’s Singapore Open winner Simon Santoso 22-24 21-16 21-17 in a 75-minute duel to win the Australian Open. The win will push Lin Dan towards the world’s top eight sooner than the year-end goal that he set himself and the hints are that the Asian Games are his next target at the end of September, especially as he is unable to participate for the Li-Ning World Championships in Copenhagen in August despite being the 2013 champion.
Lin Dan was ranked as low as 104 after his latest “rest period” following his world title in Guangzhou last summer. He had played just a handful of tournaments between the Olympics in 2012 and the 2013 worlds. His latest comeback started with victories at the China Masters and the Badminton Asia Championships before playing in the Thomas Cup finals. Reaching the last eight of his first Super series event at the Japan Open earlier this month when he reached the quarter-finals. He was in position 22 after entering the Sydney tournament but now a return to the elite top 10 is within range. Lin Dan won his first All England title in 2004 when he beat Denmark’s Peter Gade in the final. However losing to team-mate Chen Hong in 2005, defeated Lee Hyun-ll of Korea and Chen Yu in 2006 and 2007, lost to Chen Jin in 2008 and defeated his all-time rival Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia in 2009.
The Malaysian turned the tables in 2011 before Lin Dan defeated him in the 2012 final when Chong Wei retired through injury at a game and 6-2 down. Now that the man is back, wouldn’t All England fans love to see Lin Dan renew his enduring rivalry with this year’s champion Chong Wei one more time in 2015?A rematch between the two would be a perfect way to celebrate the first All England at the National Indoor Arena since its major facelift. So stay tuned!
All England champions named BWF Players of the Year
 |
Reigning All England champion Lee Chong Wei joins 2012 winner Xuerui Li in being crowned 2013 Players of the year at a BWF Awards Ceremony. Although not participating in the 2013 All England Open final, Chong Wei Has won seven Super Series titles last year to claim Player of the Year for his fourth time. He topped the shortlist featuring 2013 All England champion Chen Long, fiver-time winner Lin Dan and reigning men’s doubles champions, Hendra Setiawan and Mohammad Ahsan from Indonesia.
Japan stun China in Thomas Cup 2014
Japan’s men’s team defeating the defending champions of China 3-0 in the Thomas Cup Semi-Finals. Kenichi Tago started the win by taking down World number two Chen Long, 21-13 and 21-11. Followed by his teammates Kenichi Hayakawa and Hiroyuki Endo being victorious in the doubles event, beating Chai Biao and Hong wei, 22-20 and 21-19. Lastly, Kento Momota secured a place in the finals beating Du Peng Yu, 23-25, 21-18 and 21-14 win. With this, China’s Men’s team failed to reach their first Thomas Cup final for the first time since 2002.
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment