Lingshui: In a Chinese national team internal practice match that was held in Lingshui few days ago, current World No. 5 and two-time Olympic champion Lin Dan lost to World No. 6 Tian Houwei 21-17, 9-21, 21-23 in 77 minutes.
Speaking to media after the match, Lin Dan asserted that young players realistically pose no challenge to him, instead, those young players serve as motivation for him to continue excel on the badminton court.
“Young players today are different from when I was coming up. They inherited the glorious achievements from us, and too much pressure is put on them for continued success in badminton,” said Lin Dan.
“Just like buying a house right now, young people today have to fork out a lot of money to purchase their homes,” added Lin Dan.
Despite his career is inching towards waning twilight, the 34-year-old badminton legend insisted he is not retiring anytime soon.
“I am trying to extend my career one step at a time, hopefully when those young players reach in their 30’s, they can learn from me on how to extend the rest of their careers,” said Lin Dan.
