Lin Dan

Lin Dan (born 14 October 1983) is a Chinese former professional badminton player.

He is a two-time Olympic champion, five-time World champion, as well as a six-time All England champion.

Widely regarded as the greatest badminton player of all time, by the age of 28 Lin had completed the "Super Grand Slam", having won what some consider to be the nine major titles in the badminton world: Olympic Games, World Championships, World Cup, Thomas Cup, Sudirman Cup, Super Series Masters Finals, All England Open, Asian Games, and Asian Championships, becoming the first and only player to achieve this feat.

Lin emerged as a winner in the 2000 Badminton Asia Junior Championships in both the team and the singles events.

He was also a member of the winning Chinese team and a boys' singles semi-finalist in the 2000 World Junior Championships.

Having started his training at the age of five, he was scouted by the People's Liberation Army Sports Team after winning the National Junior Championships aged twelve, and was enlisted into the Chinese National Badminton Team in 2001, when he was 18.

2001 marked the start of then 18 year-old Lin's professional career.

In his first final, at the Asian Badminton Championships, he was thrashed by compatriot Xia Xuanze.

In 2002 Lin took his first title at the Korea Open.

He was a member of China's 2002 Thomas Cup squad which defeated Sweden (5–0), Denmark (3–2), and South Korea (4–1) to reach the semifinals.

However, Lin didn't play in the semifinal tie against Malaysia, which saw China's team tumble to a 1–3 defeat.

Lin participated in another four tournaments without coming close to victory.

He was knocked out in the first round of the Singapore, and Indonesia Opens, second round of the Denmark Open, and third round of the China Open.

In October Lin was defeated in the semifinals of the Asian Games team competition which ended China's hope of a team gold medal.

Lin started the 2003 season with a third round defeat in the All England Open.

He reached a final later in the year at the Japan Open but was beaten by his compatriot Xia Xuanze once again.

Lin then made his inaugural debut in the World Championships in Birmingham, England.

He breezed past Per-Henrik Croona and Przemysław Wacha in the first two rounds, but was beaten by Xia again in his third round match.

After the world meet, he was eliminated in the semifinals of the Singapore Open, third round of the Indonesia Open, and second round of the Malaysia Open.

However, Lin ended the season strongly by capturing the Denmark, Hong Kong, and China Opens, and finishing runner-up at the German Open.

In 2004, he was dubbed "Super Dan" by opponent Peter Gade after winning the All England Open final, and the nickname has since been widely used by his fans as well as the media to refer to him, in recognition of his achievements.

On 26 May 2023, Lin was inducted to BWF Badminton Hall of Fame.

Lin was born in Fujian, China.

At a young age, Lin was encouraged to learn to play the piano by his parents, and to be a pianist.

However, he chose to play badminton instead.

Lin had a good start to 2004, earning the BWF's number one world ranking for the first time in February.

He helped China win the qualifying round of Thomas Cup and then captured the Swiss Open.

He won his first ever All England Open title by beating Peter Gade in the final.

He reached the semifinal of the Japan Open before going off to Jakarta, Indonesia in May for the Thomas Cup campaign.

In Thomas Cup, Lin helped China to an excellent start in which they thrashed United States and defending champion Indonesia 5–0 respectively to enter the quarterfinals.

Lin then defeated Shoji Sato and Lee Hyun-il in quarterfinal and semifinal ties against Japan and South Korea respectively, each ending in 3–0 wins for China.

In the final, he beat Peter Gade in straight games to give China the lead before the Chinese team eventually won three matches to one.

China thus took the crown, ending a 14 years drought in the tournament.

Lin suffered setbacks later in the 2004 season when he was ousted in the quarterfinals of the Malaysia Open, and was reported to have a leg injury in mid-July, prior to the Olympic Games.

Lin "crashed" in his first Olympic Games when, as the first seed, he was ousted early by Singapore's Ronald Susilo, who claimed Lin was "too eager to win".

However, Lin bounced back with three titles at the Denmark, German, and China Opens, and ended the season as a semi-finalist at the Indonesia Open.

Lin retained his number one world ranking during 2005, winning his second German and Hong Kong Open titles, as well as the Japan Open, China Masters, and World Cup tournaments.

He also helped China recapture the Sudirman Cup (combined men's and women's team championship) when it shut-out both defending champion South Korea in the semifinals and Indonesia in the final.

Lin failed to retain his All England title, losing a three set final to teammate Chen Hong, and he was beaten in the final of the Malaysia Open by another rising star, Lee Chong Wei.

He also became the first men's singles player to retain the Olympic gold medal by winning in 2008 and successfully defending his title in 2012.