It’s fantastic Lin Dan is still winning tournaments at 35, says former Olympic champion Hoyer
- Former Danish great admires the Chinese legend as the two-time Olympic champion attempts to qualify for his fifth Games in Tokyo next year
Former Olympic champion Poul-Erik Hoyer says he’s surprised that China’s Lin Dan is still playing at a high level at the age of 35 but doesn’t see him clashing with Malaysian star Lee Chong Wei at next year’s Tokyo Olympics.
“I admire him [Lin Dan]. I think it’s fantastic that he is still capable of reaching finals and winning tournaments at the age of 35,” said Hoyer, the 1996 Atlanta Olympics men’s singles gold medallist and now president of the Badminton World Federation (BWF). “But I can also see his level is not as consistent as before.
“I actually think Lin and Peter Gade [a retired Danish player] are guys who [have come up] after my generation. I would not have had to continue playing at the end of my career. There will always be a new generation of players coming up, be it Vitkor Axelsen or Kento Momota and that’s how it is with badminton.”
Hoyer, who is in Guangzhou for the world governing body’s launch of a new form of the game played outdoors – AirBadminton – ranked fellow Danes Axelsen and Japanese Momota, the world number one and two, as the sport’s new hopes.
“Momota has shown great potential while Axelsen is another player capable of posting strong challenges to the Japanese shuttler,” he said. “It will be interesting to see if the two play against each other in Tokyo next year.”