NST Online: Sports
NST Online: Sports |
| Badminton: Be wary of Lin Dan's antics Posted: 06 Aug 2011 05:12 PM PDT 2011/08/07  Lee Chong Wei (left) has proved to be Lin Dan's most feared rival. Lin Dan, who has won everything at stake on the international stage, has been playing mind games with his opponents by withdrawing from competitions and showing a lack of motivation. "Lin Dan has been playing psychological games with his rivals and he is able to do it because he has won everything in badminton. Chong Wei has to watch out for his antics again," said Rashid.
"Nobody quite has the experience and skills to handle the pressure of a major event like Lin Dan and this makes him the most dangerous player despite the fact that he has slowed down." Chong Wei is chasing his first major title while Lin Dan is a three-time world champion.
"Having said that, I feel that this year's World Championships will see Chong Wei at his best since he made his debut in 2005. "We hope it would be a grand finish for Chong Wei, and hopefully Lin Dan doesn't become the spoiler again."
It will work in Chong Wei's favour if Lin Dan falters in the last eight, where he is expected to meet Japan's Sho Sasaki. Rashid pointed out that the Olympic champion had shown his vulnerability on a few occasions. "Lin Dan also has some tough matches in the earlier rounds and if he loses, that will see a momentum shift to Chong Wei," added Rashid. "Chong Wei's toughest early round opponent is Chen Long but he has the edge." Chong Wei and his Malaysian teammates had their first training session at the Wembley Arena late yesterday and will have another session today before the competition begins tomorrow. Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by Used Car Search. |
| Posted: 06 Aug 2011 05:10 PM PDT 2011/08/07  KHOO CAI LIN The swimmer hopes to sizzle in the World University Games (Aug 11-22, Shenzhen) and Indonesia Sea Games (Nov 11-22). Under the new qualifying format, a swimmer has two ways to qualify for the Olympics - beat the Olympic qualifying time known as Category A or beat the "Olympic invitation time".
But it will depend on a ranking system and a country can only have one representative in each event. Cai Lin met the invitational time at the Malaysia Open in April when she clocked 8:49.28 to dip under the invitational time of 8:51.82 in the 800m freestyle.
The 23-year-old was hoping to improve her time in the recent World Aquatics Championships in China but she failed miserably by clocking 8:57.17. "I felt confident in the world meet but I was overzealous. I made a mistake by being too fast at the start and thus failed to maintain my momentum," said Cai Lin during the launch of Herbalife's new product - NW Formula - at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.
"I can't be satisfied because I have yet to qualify for the 400m freestyle and even in the 800m." The automatic qualifying times for the 400m and 800m are 4:09.35 and 8:33.84 respectively. On her target at the World University Games, the Selangor-born swimmer said she hopes for a respectable performance. "I went straight into the pool after returning from China. Training has been intense and tiring," added Cai Lin. The qualifying period for the Olympics ends next June. |
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