Lin eyes Rio after 6th All-England triumph
Print Edition
LIN Dan, already regarded by many as the greatest player of all time, made another entry into the record books when he regained the All-England Championship title in Birmingham and won it for a sixth time yesterday.
Lin’s 21-9, 21-10 victory in the final over his compatriot Tian Houwei was a thrilling rebuttal to those critics who reckoned that, aged 32 and with a mere handful of titles in the past three years, the Chinese legend is now only a past master.
Mischievously skilful and tenaciously contentious, he ensured that the outcome of this final was never in doubt.
Instead Lin suggested a third Olympic men’s singles gold medal could well be possible in Rio de Janeiro in five months’ time. “All the Chinese coaches are sitting in the corner and I just want to show them that even though I’m 32, I can still do it,” he said.
It was four years since Lin had last won the All-England, but his total of men’s singles titles here has now only been surpassed by Rudy Hartono, the great Indonesian, who won eight.
But that was more than 40 years ago and in the pre-professional era. Only three other men in the 116-year history have as many or more singles titles at the All England, which was considered the world championship until the late ‘70s.
If this turns out to be Lin’s last appearance here at the world’s oldest international tournament, it was a suitably excellent way to say good-bye.
Third-seeded Misaki Matsutomo and Ayaka Takahashi of Japan denied China another title when they beat Tang Yuanting and Yu Fang, the sixth seeds, 21-10, 21-12 in the women’s doubles final.
In the women’s final later, Wang Shixian of China was going for her third title, and out to spoil Japanese opponent Nozomi Okuhara’s 21st birthday.
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