Super Dan just wants a break
The New Paper
Wednesday, Aug 08, 2012
He is considered one of the greatest, if not the greatest shuttler to ever walk on this planet.
And now that China's Lin Dan has successfully retained his Olympic men's singles title - a feat that no other shuttler has achieved - what more lies ahead for the 28-year-old they call "Super Dan"?
"I am really, really tired and I would need a break from badminton after this," he said on Sunday night (Singapore time) at a media conference at the Wembley Arena, about half an hour after beating Malaysian Lee Chong Wei 15-21, 21-10, 21-19 in a thrilling final.
"If I am to continue after that, I would need a training system that works for me, along with a clear target, otherwise badminton will become a burden for me."
Lin Dan had added another Olympic gold medal to his collection - which included four in the world championships, two from the World Cups and five in the Thomas Cup Finals.
He is the only man to have completed the sport's Super Grand Slam by winning all of its nine major competitions - Olympic Games, World Championships, World Cup, Thomas Cup, Sudirman Cup, Super Series Masters Finals, All England Open, Asian Games, and Asia Championships.
And Super Dan was clearly emotional after winning a tense match against Lee on Sunday night, a repeat of the 2008 Beijing Olympic final where the Chinese shuttler won 21-12, 21-8.
After Lee had sent the shuttle wide at the final point, Lin Dan dropped his racket and ran wildly towards the crowd, away from the photographers, even as Lee sunk to his knees and buried his face in his hands.
Lin Dan was then wrestled to the ground by his coaches and also covered his face with his hands.
He later threw his jersey into the capacity crowd, who included a large contingent of flag-waving China supporters, and broke into tears.
Graciously, he hugged Lee twice before circling the arena with a China flag draped on his back, to the cheers and applause of an adoring crowd.
Clean sweep
Shortly after his victory, China created Olympic history by claiming an unprecedented sweep of all five Olympic badminton gold medals after Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng won the men's doubles.
The Chinese pair beat Denmark's Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen 21-16, 21-15 to complete the domination of the Chinese in the sport.
But for now, Lin Dan has set his eyes on the biggest match of his life - his wife Xie Xingfang, the former women's world No. 1.
He said: "I have a big problem, I hope I can give my wife a good wedding soon.
"Of course I will invite Chong Wei, Taufik (Hidayat) and (Peter) Gade, but I don't know if they would be free to attend."
Turning to Lee in the media conference, who was seated to his right, Lin Dan addd: "
But there's no need to bring big gifts to my wedding. A large hongbao (red packet) will do!"
(Sorry for this late posting as I just returned to the office after taking a week's leave to watch the LOG on TV) 