He wouldn't even have to think about trying something different," says Bhat. Lin retained much of that physicality even late in his career. Prannoy recounts an incident from the first time he met Lin. When he saw Lin training in a hotel gym on the morning of their first match at the Malaysia Open, his first instinct was to think the match was off. Lin Dan was really going hard in the gym. He was groaning and yelling. With that kind of effort there was no way he would be able to play his match.
He was working with more intensity on the day of a match than I did in a regular training session. It didn't make sense to me. Then in the evening, we played our first match and he beat me in straight games. And I wondered what is this guy made of! He recollects another anecdote. I got a chance to do so at the French Open. It's really heavy. Most players prefer a lighter racket but Lin Dan prefers a heavy one. That way he has a lot more punch in his strokes than most players.
Lin did not start out as a punishing rally-winning machine though. At their first encounter. Gopichand recalls Lin as an out-and-out attacker. He was lightning quick. Just devoted to attacking all the time. My game was built around touch and deception, which is a perfect counter for that attacking style," says Gopichand who subsequently beat Lin in their next two matches. Lin played a fast-paced game throughout his early career. He was nothing like the guy he became later.
If you lifted ten shuttles, nine of them would be hit with a jump smash down at you," says Anup Sridhar, who played him five times between and Even when I played him in , I lost, but I didn't come away with the impression that he was unbeatable," says Bhat.
But while Lin could have been satisfied being a one-trick pony, he reworked his game. He retained his speed but added a relentless rallying pace to his game. Gopichand explains how that made the difference. To win for 20 years in men's singles, you need to do something more. The way he jumps to smash is one thing but the ability to change your game to what is required is my biggest takeaway from his game. When he lost, he went back and worked. Not many of the strokes and footwork which are there today were there when he was The ability to change and work on his game and physicality needs a lot of work and discipline and understanding.
It needs a mindset that is willing to try out different things. Lin Dan had it. That's what made him special. Lin's contemporaries believe he had all the ingredients that made a near-perfect badminton player. Here are a few select key aspects of his game that I think made him exceptional.
And incidentally the biggest difference between him and his closest rival Lee Chong Wei. By far and away the strongest aspect of his mentality was his inner belief in himself. He was known as the bad boy of badminton. While his behaviour was not always sportsmanlike at the time, it was clear that the attitude was stemming from his belief that he should be winning every match.
It was this belief that controlled his competitive drive. Ultimately making him hungry for title after title, to be better and better. Later as he matured, and having won so many titles, this attitude became more refined. But he never lost his competitive drive as a result of being world number one or winning World and Olympic titles. In fact, I would hazard a guess that with the accolades to back him up, he grew even more confident. He knew that the pressure was much more on his opponents.
They had to prove themselves against him, he was the benchmark of top-level badminton. There was no longer as much pressure on him but immense pressure on opponents. One final point on mentality was his amazing ability not to panic or give up at any stage of a match. Lin Dan remained calm during high-pressure situations and just played his game.
Many other players in the same situation play safe so as to not make any unforced errors. Whereas Lin Dan continued to pressure opponents and take half-chances in order to win the rallies. For most of his early career, Lin Dan played an attacking game that blew me away. Watching the Olympic finals in , his speed and tenacity around the court was spectacular.
The pure explosiveness of Lin Dan meant he could attack literally everything. This commitment to following the shuttle in really set the tone of his attacking play. Combining this with his ability to produce excellent shot quality in his smashes, meant that he was able to create these opportunities often and with significant benefits.
His around the head smash was also devastating. I have known Lin Dan since the world junior championships in Guangzhou. I remember being struck then by the Chinese team. They were like robots. That exists to this day, there is a sameness to everybody, all similar in their kind of play, the training, the kind of footwork, the length, their attitude off the court, everything. But Lin Dan was different from the beginning. He was aggressive, stylish, you know, that, 'I know I'm the best' vibe.
His attitude was much like the Europeans who are fearless even when they are not winning. Asian players are not that aggressive because they come from a sporting country where the government is central to their development. I think only Anup Sridhar among Indians had a similar attitude of fearlessness when he was in his prime. But Lin Dan was simply another level altogether. Why do you think Lin Dan could retain his individuality in a country like China?
Society mindsets in China and India are almost the same. So, a guy doing his own thing is still accepted and Lin Dan also cornered a lot of fame because of his personality. Had it been a woman, I don't think it would have been accepted by the Chinese as well. A lot of credit for it though should go to the China team coach, Li Yongbo who was far-sighted enough to go ahead with the changes. He could sense that change was inevitable.
He did, what I would call, a westernization of an old culture. Do you think he would have flourished in an Indian context? How is that even possible? Indians also don't accept that, no? That's why I was never accepted Laughs.
People called him the bad boy of badminton and I was the 'bad boy' of Indian badminton because I used to call out what was wrong. In India, there is a herd mentality. But you should be acceptable of all kinds of individualities. For an individual to grow, you need to give her space. Else, you will not have sports persons in individual disciplines coming out as a regular process -- once in 50 years, first time in 30 years, that will remain our story.
Is it possible then that someone like say, Prakash Padukone was so loved right from our parents' generation to this day because he was a nice boy -- clean cut and non-controversial?
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