Interesting. He will need a good business plan. And if he wants to go international with his equipment, a good tactic would be to make friends with BC members and the mods! His team needs to look at Yang Yang and Adidas and try to learn from those. Don't assume just his name is good enough. There's a lot of promotional work he would need to do for a few years to build it up and to maintain it. Astec would be a good business to take notes from.
Lin Dan yesterday against JOJ had two ZF2 and two black painted rackets, he was using ZF2 for I think pretty much the whole match
LD said earlier last year that this was the kind of deal he was looking for. Not just get money to use this or that racket, but a collaboration with a company which would include many aspects. I would think clothes would interest him a lot
http://sports.sina.com.cn/o/2014-11-16/17007412217.shtml (My humble translation follows, leaving out unimportant parts or what's already known but including everything Lin Dan said) After the CHN Open PSS MS Final, at the post-match conference, Lin Dan who's been through a lot in his career didn't appear dispirited after the loss, he said:" Very happy to enter the final, regrettably I didn't prevail in the end, such is competition, I will continue playing. Badminton has given me a lot, I started playing at age 5, for the past 10 over years, no matter what pains and joys badminton has brought me, all the same, I am passionate about the sport." Lin Dan added:" Two weeks ago I was injured, yet I could enter the final, have already put in great effort. The competition was held in Fuzhou, our homeland, I could opt out but I chose to continue, progressed to the final match by match, I felt it's not bad already. Originally I had hoped to have the gold medal remained in Fuzhou, a pity I failed to achieve it." A reporter noticed some changes in Lin Dan's apparel , that during the tournament he was using different brands/models of racquets and shoes, and asked him why. Lin Dan replied:" Maybe because my teammates changed them for me, come December there'll be a press conference, regarding questions relating to this, I will answer them directly when the time comes." About today's match with K Srikanth, Lin Dan has this to say:" Today, all in all, I wasn't playing fast enough. My opponent's attacks kept me trailing, the young Indian general played more positively;unfortunately, in the first set during the deadlock and when overtaking,I failed to make the most of it. If I had taken G1, I would be more at ease. On the whole, my movement wasn't good, it had to do with my lack of systematic training. Owing to injury,I hadn't be able to undergo normal training. Come winter training, I hope to make the proper adjustments, should perform better next year." Regarding K Srikanth, Lin Dan said:" He is a very dynamic newcomer. In competitions, it's either you beat your opponents or get beaten. Victory or defeat, I can well come to terms with mentally, and will continue to work hard." Finally, an Indian reporter posed a question to Lin Dan:" When was the last time you lost a final?" Lin Dan looked confused, ruminated, at last shook his head and said he really couldn't remember when.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lin_Dan LD has won 56 finals, and lost 18 finals in his pro career. Since 2009, he has been runner up to LCW 4 times, walked over to Chen Jin once, lost to a KOR player once, and then this... Srikanth yesterday. So yes, no wonder he can't remember.
Not to take anything away from Srikanth, but LD was holding back to protect his knee in the China Open final. When watching LD's game, I have to hold some degree of reservation to avoid disappointments. Other than the Olympics, World Championships and the Asian Games, you just can't tell whether he really wants to win or not. On this point, LCW is far superior to LD as LCW plays to win on most occasions. I remember that was a Korean Open final in which LD had the match well in hand and then all a sudden, he seemed having lost interest and then the match.
Can't blame Lin Dan,he's been there and done that so many times. Maintaining long-lasting motivation and drive is a problem for him, unconsciously. Perhaps when his new multi-million-dollar long-term sponsorship is finalized, will his oomph return for good.
Afterall, we have to accept LD is 31 year old. He has to distribute his energy evenly and hence to play a control game rather than go all out and has no energy left for the third game. I do think last night game he moved very slow compared to what he is capable of. I hope he can adjust his game plan where he should be more aggressive in the early part of the games rather leave it the last few points which is too risky.
Imagine if last night game is a super Series Final in December, a world Championship, All England , or even Thomas Cup/Sudirman cup Final vs Srikanth, Will we see a different Lin Dan ?
Here's something interesting that I noticed about LD in his China Open outing. His racquet, of course, looks like a VT-ZF2. But his grip.... In the past, he used to often leave just a partial towel grip on the handle, and strip away the rest. Especially the area near the cone, where the fingers rest. But as I was watching a replay of the finals, just now, I noticed that he's got towelling al the way up to the cone. And it looks to me, like some of the towelling has been removed (or not been applied) at around the base of the handle, near the butt. Or is that some kind of tape over on the butt end?
In the article I translated above, Lin Dan has revealed that he'll hold a press conference in December where all queries regarding his sponsor, apparel and equipment will be answered. Look forward to it.
