Lin Dan focusing on Tokyo Olympics, not retirement

Last week, Lee Chong Wei issued a friendly advice to the two-time Olympic gold medalist to retire before the rescheduled Olympics, considering the fact he would turn 37 next year and face intense competition from younger players.

But Lin Dan squashed any speculation of hanging up his racquet through his long-time coach, Xia Xuanze.

"He is not thinking of retiring at the moment and still insists on impacting the Olympic qualification.

"He still has an opportunity to catch up with the rest, now that badminton is postponed until August and Olympics qualification plans not announced yet," said Xia.

As it stands, the five-time world champion is fifth in the pecking order to the road to Tokyo behind Chen Long, Shi Yuqi, Huang Yu Xiang and Lu Guang Zu.

Each country is allowed to send two shuttlers to the Olympics if they are both ranked in the world top 16.

Xia also revealed Lin Dan had returned to training after taking a three-week break to spend time with his family.

Prior to that, all Chinese shuttlers who competed at the All-England Championships, complied with COVID-19 quarantine measures upon returning home.

Meanwhile, the ongoing pandemic continued to disrupt the badminton calendar, with the Thomas Cup & Uber Cup now pushed to October.

The biennial event was initially slated to take place in August in Aarhus, Denmark, but following the Danish government’s decision to extend a ban on large gatherings, the dates was revised.

"We listened to the advice of the World Health Organisation, health experts, local authorities and the Danish government, and it became clear hosting a big event like this before September would be difficult.

"We are confident to stage a safe and successful championships on the new dates, while monitoring the situation closely should things change again," said the Badminton World Federation in a statement.