Lin Dan (Chinese: 林丹; born 14 October 1983) is a Chinese former professional badminton player. He is a two-time Olympic gold medallist, five-time World Championships gold medalist, two-time World Cup champion, two-time Asian Games gold medalist, four-time Asian Champion, as well as a six-time All England champion. He led China to victory 5 times at the Sudirman Cup, 6 times at the Thomas Cup, and 3 times at the Asian Games men's team event.
Widely regarded as the greatest badminton player of all time, by the age of 28 Lin had completed the "Super Grand Slam", having won the full set of all nine major titles in the badminton world of his time: Olympic Games, World Championships, World Cup, Thomas Cup, Sudirman Cup, Year-end Finals, Asian Games, and Asian Championships, becoming the third player to achieve this feat after Ge Fei and Gu Jun, and the only male player to ever achieve this feat. Of the 9 major events, he had won at least 2 of each events except the Year-end Finals where he won once in his only time participating in that event. 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.
Lin was dubbed "Super Dan" by opponent Peter Gade after winning the 2004 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. He was inducted to BWF Badminton Hall of Fame on 26 May 2023.
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. 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.
Lin emerged as a winner in the 2000 Asian 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.
2001–2003: Senior debut and Four tour titles
2001 marked the start of then 18-year-old Lin's professional career. In his first final, at the Asian Championships, he was thrashed by compatriot Xia Xuanze. He then entered his first final in the IBF Grand Prix event at the Denmark Open, losing to Bao Chunlai.
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 semi-finals. However, Lin didn't play in the semi-final 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 semi-finals 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 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 semi-finals 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.
2004: World #1, All England and Thomas Cup champions
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 semi-final 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 quarter-finals. Lin then defeated Shoji Sato and Lee Hyun-il in quarter and semi-finals 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 quarter-finals 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.
2005: Sudirman and World Cup success
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 semi-finals 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. In his bid to capture his first BWF World title at Anaheim California, he beat Kennevic Asuncion, Shoji Sato, Lee Hyun-il, and Peter Gade in succession to reach the final. There he was decisively beaten by a peak-form Taufik Hidayat. Lin was also eliminated in the semi-finals of the Singapore Open and the quarter-finals of the China Open.
2006: World Champion, Second All England and Thomas Cup triumph
Lin started the season by reaching the semi-finals of the German Open, and had a same result in China Masters and China Open. He failed to win the Malaysia Open in June, which saw his opponent Lee Chong Wei produce a superb display to save the title after being 13–20 down in the deciding game, and also lost to Taufik Hidayat in Asian Games final.