Overseas badminton players getting stronger: Lin Dan

HONG KONG—China’s blanket dominance of world badminton appears to be slipping with several countries chasing them for honours at next year’s Beijing Olympics.
The military-style Chinese team, ruled with an iron fist by head coach Li Yongbo, won three of the five titles at this weekend’s Hong Kong Open. Only a year earlier, however, Chinese players swept all five categories at the same tournament.
“The standard of the overseas players is getting closer and closer,” admitted men’s champion Lin Dan, who was taken to three games by Malaysia’s Lee Chong Wei in the final. “Before, China dominated. But I think the fans want to see this kind of close matches, so it’s good for the sport.”
China took four Olympic titles in 2000 and three in 2004. Next year, they face a serious challenge from both Malaysia and a resurgent Indonesia, which won two of the doubles events here. It’s a subject which already has domestic media fretting, with the China Daily highlighting the worst performance in 14 years at last month’s China Open, where home players won only two titles.
“China’s domination in badminton has suddenly been called into question,” the article said. Lin’s extended stint at number one now appears under threat from Malaysia’s Lee, who was hampered by a left knee injury and some disputed line calls in Sunday’s final. Lee has won two of his four matches against Lin this year, giving him hope for the Olympics. “South Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia and Denmark are all very strong,” Lee said.
“Anybody has a good chance. It’s a big tournament and there’s a lot of pressure. China will have a lot of challengers.” Fellow Malaysian Wong Mew Choo beat three of the top four — all Chinese — to win the China Open women’s singles, while South Korea’s Jun Jae-Youn stunned Olympic champion Zhang Ning here. European women are making inroads, with France’s Pi Hongyan currently ranked fifth and Tine Rasmussen also closing the gap. China are now outsiders in men’s doubles, with second-ranked Fu Haifeng and Cu Yai the only Chinese team in the top five.
According to various coaches, the turnaround is largely due to the 21-point system where players can score off every rally, not just on their own serve. “In the Olympics, we’ll hope to put China in danger, maye in all events, even if it will be difficult in the women’s events,” said Indonesian coach Hendrawan. “But Tine Rasmussen, Wong Mew Choo and others have shown they could beat the top Chinese, who will have extra pressure on home soil in Beijing.”
China will look to come back strongly next year, with coach Li announcing a boycott of the planned Masters Final as his players undergo a month-long training session.—Agencies