Badminton has potential to be bigger outside Asia, says Lin Dan

SINGAPORE: Two-time Olympic champion Lin Dan believes that badminton can do more to become a global sport by allowing tournaments to be played outside the sport’s traditional Asian bastions.
Speaking at a news conference ahead of this week’s Singapore Open, the Chinese superstar said the sport should be more popular than it already is.
“Badminton is an attractive sport that helps a lot of people, especially teenagers, both physically and mentally,” he said through a translator


“If you want more (people) to accept and enjoy the sport, competitions have to be played in different parts of the world rather than always in India, Singapore, Malaysia or China.

“Should competitions of a high standard be organised at new venues, I’m very willing to take part.”
The 32-year-old world No. 3 added that it was the job of the Badminton World Federation (BWF) to promote the sport to a wider international audience.
Nicknamed “Super Dan” in 2004 by now-retired Danish star Peter Gade Christensen, the Chinese shuttler remains the only singles player to have scooped all nine major badminton titles on top of two Olympic golds.
While the pressure may be on Lin Dan to add a third gold at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in August, he said his focus would simply be to perform at his best.
“We won’t be thinking about statistics or the chances of winning gold. It’s only by playing one’s best in every game that you will have the best outcome,“ he said.
World No. 1 Chen Long, also of China, is another hot favourite for the Olympic gold this summer. — AFP