Lin Dan

Lin Dan born October 14, 1983 in Longyan, Fujian) is the current dominant player of world badminton from China, his ethnicity belongs to the Hakka ancestry. He has been nicknamed "Super Dan" by his fans. Lin won the men's singles gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

He is the only player in badminton history to have won three singles world championship titles having done so consecutively in 2006, 2007, and 2009. He currently has a romantic relationship with fellow Chinese badminton player Xie Xingfang.

Lin became one of the dominant players of men's singles, winning nine top tier international championships between 2002 and 2004. In a surprise loss, he was eliminated as the no.1 seed in the first round of the badminton men's singles in the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. However, he has continued his dominance in international tournaments and has been continuously ranked number one in the world since early 2004, except for a very brief period of time in 2006 when Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia overtook him.

Among the tournaments Lin Dan have won are the All-England Open (2004, 2006, 2007 and 2009), the BWF World Championships (2006, 2007 and 2009), and the Olympic Games (2008). He has helped China win three consecutive Thomas Cup (men's world team) championships in 2004, 2006, and 2008 and has also been a major contributor to Chinese teams which won the Sudirman Cup (combined men's and women's team championship) in 2005, 2007 and 2009.

Lin Dan is a left-handed player whose most defining characteristic is his ability to attack with fast smashes at steep angles. He combines quick movements around the court with the ability to maintain long aggressive rallies to win the majority of his matches. He relies on diving to retrieve his opponents attacking shots with an exceptionally fast recovery. His well built physique helps him to produce powerful straight and cross court jump smashes, and his fast penetrating footwork makes him one of the toughest active badminton players in the open circuit. At one time he was criticized for a lack of precision or refinement, especially when compared to competitors such as Taufik Hidayat and Peter Gade. However, Lin now occasionally uses deceiving wrist movements and employs a wider variety of shots, developing into a more complete player.

source: wikipedia.org