Lin Dan keeps calm towards 'Lin-Danity'
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E-mail Xinhua, April 20, 2012
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Lin Dan of China lifts the trophy on March 11, 2012 following his victory over Lee Chon Wei of Malaysia during the men's singles final of the All-England Open badminton championships at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham. |
With less than 100 days to go before the London Olympic Games, China's "Super Dan" Lin Dan is in quest for a second Olympic title and the so-called "Lin-Danity".
However, the badminton great keeps calm.
"I never think about ("Lin-Danity), but I'm grateful to those who give me such a high appraise," said Lin at the Badminton Asia Championships after entering men's singles quarterfinals on Thursday.
Widely considered the greatest badminton player of all time, Lin is a four-time world champion, five-time All England winner and the reigning Olympic gold medallist.
By the age of 28, Lin had completed the "Super Grand Slam", having won all nine major titles in world badminton.
The 29-year-old believed currently the mindset is the most important. "Dynasty is not only built on win, but also on lose. After years of competition, the popularity is accumulating step by step."
Lin's career is never lack setbacks. At the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, the first seed Lin "crashed" in his first Olympic show, being ousted early by unheralded Singaporean Ronald Susilo.
However, the bitter failure in 2004 to some extent turned out to be instrumental for Lin's mature and growth. At the Beijing Olympic Games, Lin bounced back to clinch the gold medal.
Till now, the Beijing final is still memorable as the one-sided match saw Lin demolish arch-rival Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia 21-12, 21-8, and become the first men's singles player to win the Olympic gold medal as a top seed.
Talking about his career, Lin hoped youngsters could learn from his spirit. "In fact my growth is not smooth, but I finally overcome it. People shouldn't only focus on my achievement, but also on my growing process."
"Consistency is crucial to athletes. I hope my career could help young people," added Lin.
