Lin Dan Uneasy With Shorter Time To Test Putra Stadium

KUALA LUMPUR, May 7 (Bernama) -- China's world number two shuttler Lin Dan is not happy with the shorter time given to train at the Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil, the venue for the Thomas and Uber Cup tournaments which starts Sunday.

The Beijing Olympic gold medallist said he had to share the two hours allocated for the Chinese Thomas squad with the rest of his team-mates.

"It's really a short period. I feel uneasy with the draft in the stadium, need more time to adapt," Lin Dan told reporters Friday.

The Chinese team was slotted for a two-hour training at the stadium, starting 2pm.

China has won the Thomas Cup crown for three consecutive times -- Jakarta (2004), Japan (2006) and again in Jakarta, two years ago. They are drawn in Group A, together with South Korea and Peru.

Before 2004, the Great Wall team won the prestigious men's team event in badminton in 1982 (London), 1986 (Jakarta), 1988 (Kuala Lumpur) and 1990 (Nagoya, Japan).

Asked about the group challenges, Lin Dan said his team would not face any problem in facing the Koreans and minnows Peru.

He, however, was surprised with Korea's move to field their former best singles shuttler, Lee Hyun Il, in this tournament as the player had retired recently due to injury.

"He's a good player but I don't think I would meet him because of his ranking. In the Group A match, I will be battling against Korea's top men's singles, Park Sung Hwan," he said.

China will start their campaign by facing Peru on Sunday and complete the group tie against Korea on Tuesday.

China is fielding Lin Dan, Chen Jin, Bao Chun Lai and Chen Long in the singles while their doubles are Xu Chen/Guo Zhendong, Cai Yun/Fu Haifeng, Chai Biao/Zhang Nan.

Source from BERNAMA

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