Lin returns to All England as favorite again
Print Edition
LIN Dan can rest for as long as he likes, it doesn’t matter. He’s the favorite in whatever he enters, including the All England Open this week.
The multiple winner of all of badminton’s greatest prizes, Lin will be at Birmingham’s National Indoor Arena for the first time since 2012, when the Chinese superstar captured his fifth All England title.
When he won his fifth world championship in 2013, beating current No. 1 Chen Long in the quarterfinals and great rival Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia in the final, Lin had played only one tournament in a year. He didn’t reappear for another eight months, and went out and won the China Masters without dropping a game, and the Asia Championships a week later.
Back on the road building up to win a third successive Olympic gold medal in Rio de Janeiro next year, Lin has few opponents to fear, especially with Lee sidelined.
Lee has been suspended since November after a positive doping test at the world champs in August. The Malaysian, loser to Lin in the last two Olympic finals, claims he can’t understand why stem cell treatment in July for a thigh injury was still in his system a month later. He awaits a hearing with the Badminton World Federation, and has said if he receives the standard two-year doping ban, he will retire.
In the meantime, world champion Chen has risen to No. 1 in Lee’s absence, and won the World Superseries Finals in December. But his record against Lin is six losses, no wins.
Top-seeded Chen will play a qualifier today, while Lin, seeded fifth, opens against Hong Kong’s Wei Nan.
In the women’s, top-ranked Li Xuerui will be favored to regain the title she won for the first time in 2012.
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