i see. and that make sense. 10 years ago he lost to Ronald Susilo. 10 years later he is twice Olympics Gold medalists and numerous World Champions. I wonder how much Yonex is paying...
I want to see Lin dan play Ronald again . Possible like a exhibition between like the last one Lin dan vs Peter Gade. I heard thats the game Peter gade invited Lin dan to play before he fully retired. Why not Ronald invite Lin dan to play , I very eager to watch this rematch again.. !
I/m sure you 're aware Ronald Susilo is nowhere neart Peter Gade' stature. On what grounds do you think he feel justified in inviting Lin Dan to an exhibition or farewell match ? Most importantly, who will be interested to watch such a match, in which case where to find the sponsor(s)? I don't even have to wonder if Lin Dan would be keen to play and whether Ronald can give Lin Dan a decent fight worth looking forward to. The best hope is for Ronald to make a comeback, start participating in the Superseries, then perhaps we might just be lucky enough to see their rematch. Meanwhile, let's pray that Ronald work extremely hard to get back into shape, the sooner the better.
Lin Dan said he wants to play until Tokyo 2020, so it's up to the sponsor, Yonex or whoever it was, to weigh their possibilities and get their sums right.
Pretty ambitious! His birthday is listed in BWF as 14 Oct 2014. Which means he will be 37 in 2020. Meantime he will need to continue to maintain his high performance to warrant a high sponsorship price and benefits. He still has to work for his Rio qualification and with his 'soured' relationship with LYB, it will remain a contentious issue. Maybe one reason why his sponsorship is still not yet settled.
He did say he wants to play until Tokyo 2020 whilst the contract is for 10 years til 2024, the remaining four years he'll still be involved in badminton though not as a player.
If Peter can play Olympics at age of 37, I think he can too. The main difficulty is that he has to be one of the top 2 players within Chinese team at age of 36.
You are right. Playing in Olympics at age 37 is not impossible but for China should be not possible. The only way is to represent another country and he should start choosing the country after RIO 2016. Er.......New Zealand perhaps and this may be tough too. Best if some African or South American countries.
Just come to Singapore, I'm sure the foreign talent scouting team will welcome him with open arms.... On the plus side, he'll be just next door to LCW so they can visit each other every week and we may get to enjoy seeing them at casual encounters
Singapore did came to my mind but I didn't suggest because of sensitive issues among Singaporeans on FTS. On the plus side, other than LCW, he could also meet up with RS again about Athen's loss.
I simply do not understand how LD can play until 2024. How can he qualify for the Asian Games in 2022? or the Tokyo in 2020? How can he stay injury free by then? How can LYB not be able to find two players who are better than him by then? Of course he can come to Hong Kong like Wang Chen and Zhou Mi, but this takes time.
To be exact, Lin Dan only said he will play until 2020 but not specifically that he's aiming for golds in Rio and Tokyo; even for the Incheon Asian Games, he admitted he didn't expect to win it, believe it or not. If you ask me, of course he will do his level best to get gold, if not why bother to go and deny his fellow teammates a crack at the most coveted trophy. Recently he expressed that he's carrying on for the love of the sport and to thank his loyal fans for their unwavering support. He once related an incident when he came home to find his relatives huddled together at the TV watching the replay of his Beijing Olympic triumph and it immediately evoked in him a welling up of national pride and honour of which he said to himself that's what drives and motivates him to carry on.
I am pretty sure LD will get a spot for RIO Olympics and his chance to get another gold is quite high. But in 2020, There will be some younger chinese players challenge him. He is a member of chinese army so I don't think he will for other countries.....Perhaps he can play for Hong Kong if there is no chance to play China.
Even though Taufik has retired, isn't he still sponsored by Yonex? How about Peter Gade? Lin Dan could do the same thing as Lee Hyun Il, play in smaller tournaments, be a big draw for the lesser supported tournaments and play in the team competitions.
