LIN Dan wants more battles with Lee Chong Wei and the two-time Olympic champion is hoping the World No 1's career is not ended by a doping ban.
Chong Wei has been provisionally suspended by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) after testing positive for the banned substance dexamethasone during the World Championships in Copenhagen in August.
Lin Dan, a five-time world champion, told China’s Xinhua news agency on Wednesday that the badminton world needs Chong Wei .
“I hope that this great player (Chong Wei) comes back to the court as soon as possible. Not only does Malaysia need him, but the whole badminton world needs him.” Lin Dan said.
“I hope Lee’s (Chong Wei) scandal isn’t real. I still want to see the Lee-Lin Dan rivalry, those matches always bring great fun to the fans.” added Lin Dan, who advanced to the men's singles quarter-finals of the China Open, following a 19-21, 21-18, 21-15 win over second seed Jan Jorgensen of Denmark yesterday.
Malaysia’s interest, however, ended at the Super Series after Chong Wei Feng went down 24-26, 23-21, 21-6 to Japan's Sho Sasaki. The Japanese is up against Lin Dan today.
The biggest upset of the day came through Germany’s Marc Zwiebler who defeated top seed Chen Long of China 13-21, 25-23, 21-19. Zwiebler will play India's P.Kashyap in the quarter-finals. By Fabian Peter