08-Mar-11:
Super Dan can achieve open era record
Richard Eaton reports
 Olympic
champion Lin Dan can become the first men's singles player of the
open era to win five All-England titles when the world's oldest
tournament begins at Birmingham's national indoor arena on Wednesday.
Much may depend however on the state of the four times former winner's
abdominal injury, which prevented him finishing either the Hong Kong
Open in December or the Malaysian Open in January.
Only a week later Lin won the Korean Open, the first million dollar
badminton tournament - and did so by overcoming Lee Chong Wei,
the All-England champion � so the signs certainly look better than they
did.
Lin is only seeded only third, but at his best he should become
unofficial favourite to achieve something not done since 1972, seven
years before badminton went open, when the legendary Indonesian Rudy
Hartono won the fifth of his seven titles.
 One
person who believes Lin is more than capable of doing this is Peter
Gade, the fourth-seeded Dane, the last European to win the
All-England title, and the oldest man in the field at 34.
Gade, who lost in three excellent games to Lin in the 2004 final, is an
admirer of the brilliantly versatile Chinese left-hander and a defender
of his withdrawals which have brought criticisms elsewhere.
"Lin Dan has been the best player for the last five years, and maybe the
greatest player of all time - really really good, and a complete player,
no doubt about that,� he said.
Nevertheless Gade also made a point of complimenting Lee Chong Wei,
saying that "when you look at the last three years, there is no doubt he
has been the most consistent player.
"If it were not for Lin Dan he would be the best player in the world,
and these two players have been ahead of the rest - including myself.
"Lee is a complete player. He can do all parts of the game. His physical
abilities are really really strong, which makes it difficult to play
against him. But his game is dependent on his self-confidence, and if
you can affect that you have a chance of beating him."
 Gade
may have a semi-final with Lee, though the top-seeded Malaysian has a
likely quarter-final with Boonsak Ponsana, the eighth-seeded
Thai, while the longlasting Dane could find obstacles as early as the
second round in the person of Kenichi Tago, last year's runner-up
from Japan, and in the quarter-finals from Chen Long, the
fifth-seeded Chinese.
In the other half Lin Dan could have a semi-final with either Taufik
Hidayat, the second seed, or Chen Jin, the sixth-seeded world
champion from China.
Another notable part of Lin's build-up has been his marriage to another
former All-England champion, Xie Xingfang, whom he reportedly married in
Guangzhou in December.
Whoever wins the world's oldest titles this year will do so in an
upgraded tournament - the second of five which now form part of the new
BWF Premier Series � badminton's equivalent of tennis' Grand Slams.
"There is a commitment from the hosts to do something extra," according
to Thomas Lund, the BWF's chief operating officer. "There are
some things happening that you see, and some things going on behind the
scenes in how we manage the tournament, and how we get spread in terms
of TV exposure.
"Hosts are stepping up a few notches in how they present a tournament,
how they use things for spectators � big screens and the branding around
the tournament.
So there are many positive signs that it is going in the right
direction."
Gade didn't seem quite so sure, offering the BWF limited praise for the
new $4.7 million series. "Things are moving, but slowly", he said.
"It's a step in the right direction. They have some rules now. They
demand players to play in the tournaments. So that's okay for me. I
would just like to see every tournament improve their prize money, not
just a few."
|
Draws & Results
More News
Draws & Results
Lee Chong Wei
Taufik Hidayat
|
