Lin Dan has said he will be playing in more tournaments for the OG cycle, it's also a requirement by Yonex to compete actively. Lin Dan may be in decline, off his peak, but somehow I share PG and TH's belief that he still has it in him to deliver results and achieve his avowed goals when it counts. After sustaining what he considered his most severe injury in his career last year, he actually claimed that after the knee effusion extractions before and after the CHN Open PSS, he continued his treatment with a couple of 'lubricant' injections imported from USA by his doctor. And I've read somewhere the other week that he said he is still not fully recovered yet, not 100% match fit, and he would continue to exercise caution for the time being. Excuses or not, we shall soon see. Knowing Lin Dan, he's an outspoken person who speaks his mind, not one to mince his words or play psychological games, just not his character. Besides, I don't see any strategic benefit or necessity for him to do , esp when there are only two OG spots available as well as Yonex to answer to.
Olympics are more than one year away. Even the end of qualification is over a year away. LD has time to rest and heal 100% rather than make his injury worse by playing. What we can't deny is LD is old for a pro badminton player. Players before LD have seen a decline in their game once they hit 30. LD is 31. This decline for an athlete at 30 years old does not just happen in badminton. It happens in many other sports as well. It's quite normal in many different sports for athletes to decline in performance after a certain age. Even in golf, which is hardly a physical demanding sport, there is a prime age. Believe it or not, the prime age for golf is in the lower thirties: http://www.golfchannel.com/news/joe-posnanski/does-age-really-matter-golf-yes-it-does/ Obviously, the prime age for top singles badminton is younger than golf as singles badminton is much more physically demanding, especially stamina wise. I hope LD proves me wrong by winning a few SS this year and the WC. I guess we'll see.
I also a bit worry now, Lin dan may like Peter gade or taufik unable to win tournaments since hit 31 years old. I guess Lin Dan is taking the foot step of David Beckham. into fashion .. Anyway Lin dan has won almost all big titiles, he has nothing to fight for now !
We can be absolutely sure Lin Dan will take every tournament that counts in the OG cycle much more seriously. I trust these two hiccups, at the AE and IND Open, will not matter very much in his overall scheme of things. Personally, I strongly feel he has to give more weight to badminton in his life vis-a-vis all the other things except his family will still come first, I believe him when he said that. He can't afford not to, otherwise Chen Long will surpass or deny him as far as the Rio Olympics quest is concerned,if nobody else can. Just imagine, Lin Dan is already past 30, no human can defy the effects of age, while most of his opponents and rivals are younger and many of whom are at or reaching their prime and dedicated to badminton more than he is at present apparently. No doubt his aspirations for badminton are now no longer the same as when before he attained all there is in badminton, incomparable, unprecedented and unassailable his achievements and records in becoming the most decorated player in history - but I believe his passion and prodigious talent for the sport have not diminished in any significant degree though his drive and motivation to win more of the coveted titles except another Olympic gold may have dampened considerably. No wonder Lin Dan only set himself a modest target of reaching the world's top 3 in ranking for this year which he's already succeeded in doing just after the AE tournament. But he has still to maintain his WR#3 position as we're currently only in the first quarter of the year. By the way, IMHO, I noticed that for the whole of the AE and the IND Open, the instances where Lin Dan injected pace suddenly were few and far between, rather uncharacteristic of him. If we look back to last year up until the Asian Games and before the DEN Open PSS where his knee injury occurred , the frequency of his doing so, i.e. his ability to suddenly inject pace, was evidently higher, relatively speaking. I believe some of you may know why. Lastly, it's not for me or anyone else to find excuses for Lin Dan ,he doesn't need it. The fact that he's signed a lucrative 10-yr contract with Yonex and set his sights on Rio'16 means he is fully aware of what's awaiting him. And I'm pretty sure both CBA and Yonex knew very well what they are in for when they got Lin Dan back or on board, in particular someone who is at the tail end of his career.
One more thing, for the coming Sudirman Cup, LYB has said he hasn't decided who , Lin Dan or Chen Long, will play the leading role as MS1 only expressing whoever is in better form by then will be the one. Remember, before the AE, LYB also said Lin Dan (and LXR too) was not expected to do well. Maybe LYB knows something we don't know or not explicitly reported in the news media. I suspect Lin Dan's knee injury is worst than what it's been reported,perhaps he didn't want to alarm Yonex; that's why it's taking so long for him to recover , I'm speculating. Who knows, the doctor who treated his knee injury by a series of effusion extractions followed by US-imported 'lubricant' injections to aid healing might have told him not to overexert his knee for a few months at least so as to avoid possible long-term complications. Just guessing based on what Lin Dan claimed was the most severe injury he has had in his 14-year-long career and his subsequent below-par performance. Come to think of it, Lin Dan's performance at last year's CHN Open PSS was simply amazing, a phenomenal feat for an injured athlete.
I mean Lin Dan wouldn't have said the knee injury was the worst in his career and also admitted to his mentor Tang Xianhu likewise. I was puzzled at first, why exaggerate it if it's not that serious. True, we've seen the video showing the doctor performing the knee effusion extractions ,at first twice in two weeks of about 60ml each (I've reported this here earlier), that was before the CHN Open PSS. Then after that tournament, he went back to Beijing to continue treatment, another round of effusion extractions, and then some time later received a couple of 'lubricant' injections imported from USA prior to the start of the 52-day winter training at Lingshui, Hainan island in January this year. I hadn't thought of translating the related article and post it here as I considered it just a routine normal course of therapy, a standard follow-up treatment. Frankly, I was even expecting to see Lin Dan fully recovered and fighting fit for the opening season campaign this March and was surprised to read reports saying LYB didn't expect LD to perform well at the AE as he isn't fully fit and LD himself admitting he's only back to about 70-80% condition. Anyway, what's happened has happened. Let's look forward to his performance going forward, there's the MayBank MAS Open PSS next week. Next month, he's skipping the OUE SIN Open SS, same for the CHN Masters GPG at Changzhou, China, but will be playing at the BAC at Wuhan, China, on 21st Apr. Finally after skipping the NZ Open GPG in end April, will come May 1st when the Rio Olympics qualification cycle officially begins. When the time comes, there will be no reason or excuse for Lin Dan to underperform. In due course, we will know whether Lin Dan is going downhill or still has what it takes to be at the top of the heap and stays there.
LD had just won the gold in the Asian Games in september, just 6 months ago, with LCW and CL in a row. He is aging all right, but that is only six months... We cannot say he is not performing well now because he is too old. Either it is lack of training or injury (and of course both).
I would say LD can always be faster then the others. It is not because he will be 32 or 33 that he will not be able to inject enough pace. But with age he might be getting prone to injury, which just happened.
About LD's motivation: it looks obvious that LD likes the glory. He is such a competitive man. Only on the court he is sure to get the spotlight. That must be a great motivation to go on. It is becoming hard to imagine him enjoying relaxing life... Unless he finds something really high profile after his retirement.
I think LD is fooling potential opponents before the Olympics by losing out to them . if he wins the off course he is the best that's why he won . there is no way LD can be defeated and earlier too his loss to taufik was a fluke. He might as well win Olympics when he becomes 60 and off course if he wants to win.
Excerpts from an interview with Lin Dan The 'Greatest Ever' is losing matches more frequently. Recently, you have lost to Chen Long and Kidambi Srikanth and now, Tommy Sugiarto. Is it difficult to adjust to the 'new world order'? Win or lose, I believe in giving my best and that is what I always do. In China Open on that day, Srikanth was very good. In recent times, he is undoubtedly the most complete player I have seen. He will go a long way if he continues to play this way. Are you aiming to defend your Olympic title in Rio? Yes, I am. I am training 8-9 hours a day and will give my best shot for Rio. There has been talk of me retiring but it's all untrue. Every time I am not playing, I am training harder to keep myself fit. During the off-season, I try to increase my practice sessions and I am also training with my coaches. Watch out for me (with a smile). Being the senior ambassador, how do you see Chinese badminton without Lin Dan. It is going to happen sooner or later? I haven't thought about that (retiring), my focus is to win as many tournaments as possible and give my best shot at Rio Olympics to win. I want to win the gold again. Is Chen Long ready to take over your mantle? Chen Long is doing well but shouldering responsibilities for the team and the country is something he has to keep doing and prove his mettle! I am doing it for China for years as my contemporaries have done for their respective countries. Many other players need to come up quickly in the world rankings to maintain China's status in the world. You see China continue to dominate after you. There is Chen Long but not many players around. Like I said, Chen Long needs to continue to shoulder the responsibilities for long as I have done. As for the Chinese team, you have to ask the question to the national coach. How does it feel to be back on the Yonex team? It feels good because I used Yonex a lot during the initial stage of my career, and for a long time after that. I have always liked their products. They are also doing a great job of promoting the game as well. Source - http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...e-player-now-Lin-Dan/articleshow/46723576.cms
Well said. Lin Dan was recovering from injury and couldn't train full force for the last couple of months. I believe once the OG cycle starts in May, he will definitely step up. For the time being, injury prevention or aggravation is his top priority. For me, I'm still more concerned about what drives and motivates him to carry on successfully to Rio'16 and beyond (Tokyo 2020?).
Nice interview from Lin Dan to the foreign press, diplomatic and tactful. Hope it's not just good PR for Yonex. He certainly must train hard which he would once he's fully recovered if he wants to win as many tournaments as possible and win the Rio Olympic gold. Also I really think he should cut down on his extracurricular activities, too much already, practically every other week or so he's involved in one or the other, not forgetting he's also running his own coffee cafe business (not the day-to-day operations, no doubt). Not only has he to deal with younger super-fit and dedicated opponents, age is also catching up with him. There's definitely no short cut and he simply cannot rely too much on his extensive knowledge and vast experience to beat his opponents most of the time.
I detect some sarcastic remarks. Winning the Olympics at 60 !? - go talk to your grandfather like that and see what he thinks of you.
Everybody (eg, Taufik, Peter Gade) agrees that LD will win Rio. What LD wants now is Tokyo 2020!! The only way he can win Tokyo is to train not too hard and participate in as little tournaments and finals as possible.
Theres no way for him to win Tokyo. 4 years is a long time in an Athlete's career, especially one past his prime already. Even for Rio I'm doubtful.
Now LD himself said that srikanth is the most complete player hr saw in recent times and not CL. I remember many having different opinion of srikanth . lol.
