Chinese badminton continues its shady ways
Thursday, 23rd June 2011 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
Olympic champion and current World No. 2 Lin Dan in front of two characters increasingly associated with his name: 退赛 or "Withdraw from competition."
The latest example took place last weekend at the Li-Ning Singapore Open, where China's Lin Dan, aka "Super Dan," withdrew from the final citing a stomach virus. What good fortune for China's badminton delegation — that stomach virus handed Chen Jin the win by forfeit and his first-place finish will improve his seed for the London 2012 Olympics. Olympic gold medalist Lin was booed by Singapore Indoor Stadium's crowd of more than 7,000, who didn't get the show they paid for.
It's not doing any good for China's reputation in the sports world, which already has the taint of poor sportsmanship from gymasts and footballers who are younger than they say they are, and basketball players who are older. It's not good for badminton, which may never be taken seriously as a sport in the United States, and is losing ground to basketball and football in China. And it can't be good for Li-Ning, the sponsor of the Singapore Open, the Chinese team, and of Lin himself.
The Chinese team are hearing it from the badminton press, who are skeptical that Lin was sick, although they concede that the decision to withdraw probably did not rest with him, but with a coach or team leader. BadZine.com editor-in-chief Raphael Sachetat wrote an insightful editorial on the topic earlier this week (No show: is that promotion?), which includes some great detail and background information on the situation. And something else Sachetat wrote more than two years ago seems to still be relevant in the badminton world: "If only Chinese badminton benefits from its own growth, the sport might simply be taken out of the Olympic program someday. Sponsors will then vanish and the little money coming in will be gone for a while. That's what is called shooting oneself in the foot…" (China out of SS finals: shooting itself in the foot).
While China's "strategy" is an openly criticized secret, it doesn't seem to draw the attention that matters most — that of the Badminton World Federation, which seem unable or unwilling to investigate the behavior for the standard-bearers of its sport.
Tags: badminton, Lin Dan
"Wimbledon of Badminton" underway
Wednesday, 9th March 2011 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
Lin Dan gives his signature salute after his signature strip show after taking the Men's Singles title at the 2010 Asian Games.
China is looking to maintain its dominance in the sport, but faces strong challenges from the likes of Malaysia, Indonesia, Korea and Denmark. Hosts England, with just one entrant in each of the singles events, faces an uphill battle to assert itself more strongly as both the next Olympic host and the game's country of origin.
Play begins Wednesday March 9, and runs through Sunday March 13. I haven't checked the TV schedule, but expect plenty of CCTV-5 coverage. The tournament website is here.
Women's Singles
China's Wang Shixian is the favorite after Wang Yihan (China) and Tine Baun (nee Rasmussen, Denmark) withdrew due to injuries. Her toughest opponents will be countrywoman Wang Xin and India's Saina Nehwal, the 2010 Commonwealth Games champion.
Men's Singles
Lin Dan, aka Super Dan, one of Chinese sport's biggest stars, is going for an unprecedented fifth All England title. Other major contenders are defending All England champion, Lee Chong Wei (Malaysia); and reigning world champion Chen Jin (China).
Women's Doubles
To reach the finals, China's third-seeded Wang Xiaoli and Yu Yang will likely need to get past the top-seeded Taiwanese pair of Cheng Wen-Hsing and Chien Yu-Chin.
Men's Doubles
This is probably the most wide-open event this year. China's top pair are world title holders Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng, but they are only seeded sixth behind the top-seeded Danish duo of Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen, and teams from Korea, Indonesia and Malaysia.
Mixed Doubles
China has four teams in this event, including top seeds Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei, and the fifth-seeded Tian Qing and Tao Jiaming.
Related: Badzine's All-England Preview
Tags: badminton, Lin Dan, Wang Shixian, Wang Xin, Wang Yihan
Guo second in USSA Female Athlete of the Year vote
Wednesday, 31st December 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
Known as the "Diving Queen" in Chinese media, Guo was second to no one, man or woman, in a favorite athlete poll of Hong Kong school children, conducted by the Boys and Girls Club of Hong Kong. The question on her fans' minds now is, what will Guo do with her fame, talent and good looks? At 27 years old, she's just young enough to consider one last Olympic appearance. There were rumors in the fall that she'd suit up for Hong Kong in the 2012 Olympics, and there's always speculation about her pursuing a career in modeling or acting.
Rounding out the top five in the schoolkids' vote were, in order Liu Xiang (track and field), Lin Dan (badminton), Yao Ming (basketball) and Yang Wei (gymnastics).
Guo Jingjing image: 163.com
Tags: diving, Guo Jingjing, Lin Dan, Liu Xiang, Yang Wei, Yao Ming
Chinese team skipping major badminton tourneys
Saturday, 27th December 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
Two weeks after pulling out of the Super Series Masters in Malaysia, the China Badminton Association announced that its players will skip the next two Super Series events in favor of recovering from injuries and attending training camp. China will miss the Malaysian Open, Jan. 6 to 11, and the Korean Open, January 13 to 18.China's absence from the tournaments means that Olympic gold medalists Lin Dan (林丹, men's singles), Zhang Ning (张宁, women's singles), Du Jing and Yu Yang (women's doubles) will not compete.
Tags: Badminton, Du Jing, Lin Dan, Yu Yang, Zhang Ning
Lin and Xie Survive First-Round Scares in Thailand
Friday, 27th June 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
Lin Dan
In the three-game matches, Xie and Lin both took three games to defeat their opponents. Xie, the world's number one women's player, beat unseeded Julia Pei Xian Wong from Malaysia 21-17, 19-21, 21-19. The 55-minute match tied for the longest of the day. Lin, the top male player in the world, needed three games (21-11, 17-21, 21-14) to dispose of unseeded Thai player Vilailak Pakkawat.
The next matches went more smoothly for both of China's singles players. Lin has played twice since, beating Hsieh Yu Hsin of Chinese Taipei (21-18, 21-13) and Kozai Kazuteru of Japan (21-13, 21-12). Xie took out Yuswandari Aprillia of Indonesia, 21-10, 21-12.
The tournament runs through this Sunday.
Image: 98w.com.cn
Tags: badminton, Lin Dan, Xie Xingfang
Badminton World Ranks Released
Saturday, 7th June 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
Badminton royalty Xie and Lin
The top Chinese men's doubles team, Fu Haifeng and Cai Yun, are ranked third in the world. The top three women's doubles pairs are all Chinese (Yang Wei and Zhang Jiewen; Zhang Yawen and Wei Yili; Du Jing and Yu Yang).
China also has the world's second and third-ranked mixed doubles teams—Zheng Bo and Gao Ling; He Hanbin and Yu Yang.
Judging from the rankings, the strongest teams outside of China are Korea, Indonesia and Malaysia.
(A link to the International Badminton Federation's Web site was not included above because its Google search result comes up with warnings about the page causing problems to your computer. Here is a link to the Google results page.)
Image: Beijing 2008
Tags: badminton, Lin Dan, rankings, Xie Xingfang, Zhang Nin
China Defends Major Badminton Titles
Wednesday, 21st May 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
China's men's badminton team celebrates after winning the Thomas Cup.
The Chinese women swept Indonesia, winning three matches to none. Xie Xinfang beat Maria Kristin (21-8, 21-15); Yang Wei and Zhang Jiewen defeated Lilyana Natsir and Marissa Vita (21-15, 19-21, 21-16); Lu Lan clinched the title with a win over Adriyanti Firdasari (21-12, 21-10).
The Chinese men notched a 3-1 Thomas Cup victory over South Korea, with singles wins from Lin Dan over Park Sung-hwan (10-21, 21-18, 21-8); Bao Chunlai over Lee Hyun-il (28-26, 21-11); and Xie Zhong Bo/Guo Zhengdong over Lee Jae-jin/Hwang Ji-man (21-12, 19-21, 21-12). China's one loss came in doubles, with South Korea's Jung Jae-sung and Lee Yong-dae beating Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng (25-23, 21-16).
The Thomas and Uber Cup wins are a good sign for China's hopes for Olympic medals in badminton. China boasts the top male and female players, Lin Dan and Xie Xinfang, and expects multiple medals in August.
"Anytime you win an important tournament like this it gives you a boost," Lin was quoted as saying by the International Herald-Tribune. "The first goal was this tournament, now the next goal is the Olympics."
Image: Xinhua
Tags: badminton, Lin Dan, Olympics, Xie Xinfang
Lin Dan: National Hero or Spoiled Brat?
Saturday, 12th April 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
The story came out right after the entry lists for the Asian Badminton Championships were made public. Lin Dan will be playing in the event starting April 15 in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, along with several of China's other top players. The tournament will help determine seeding for the Olympics in August.
Update: Lin denies clocking his coach but the paper that originally reported it is sticking by its story. Head coach Li Yongbo doubts the veracity of the story and the alleged target of Lin's rage, coach Ji Xinpeng, only says that something "displeasing" happened.
Image: China Daily
Tags: badminton, Lin Dan