Taufik in Lin Dan’s eyes
The first fight between Lin Dan and Taufik was in 2001 Asian Championship with the former win. From then on, they had a lot of battles with victories and failures. The competition between them was the focus of attention for the badminton fans and media.
There were 2 idols for Lin Dan when he began his badminton career. One was Sun Jun for Sun was the No.1 MS player in national badminton team at that time. The other was Peter Gade for the Danish was outstanding in terms of badminton techniques.
But Lin also respected Taufik for the latter had almost scooped the titles of all kinds of tournaments including Olympic Games, World Championship, and Asian Games.
"My scores are not as good as Taufik. I am still on the way to my dream." Lin Dan said.
Taufik has a great many fans all over the world. I can prove it. Many Chinese badminton fans love Taufik much more than Lin Dan. Chinese little flower Wang Lin, the champion of Ladies Single in 2006 China Master, hoped to do well enough to let Taufik know her. Lin Dan believed that Taufik was the typical player of Indonesian with wonderful skills, enjoyable to watch.
As for the battle between him and Taufik, Lin Dan said that the character played an important role in it.
"Every player has its own character, its own way to live his life and its own way to fight on the court. There is no need to change it. Or he would lose his own feature. If Taufik turned to be modest and cautious for some people considered him arrogant, I think it’s no good for him. It’s not Taufik any more without his own style." Lin Dan thought.
Being an excellent shuttler, Lin Dan felt that the happiest was not the title, but a competitive opponent behind it.
"If I came to the top place without difficulty, I could not feel a great sense of achievement. Nowadays there are many top players fighting in the badminton tournament, so the champion weighs a lot. I benefited a lot from my opponents for their progress drove me forward. The uncertainty of win made the player maximize his potential."
Lin Dan in Taufik’s eyes
At the age of 8, Taufik was font of football. But his father wanted him to play badminton for Indonesia was a “kingdom of badminton”. To be a world-class badminton player was a dream for most teenagers of Indonesian.
Once he took part in this kind of sports, he loved it.
In Sydney Olympic Games, the world No.1 lost his game to Ji Xinpeng in the quarter-finals.
"I can not believe my failure. I have to wait for the next one. I am the No.1. Why and how can a new Chinese beat me?" Taufik could not accept it. But he began to know lose was a natural thing to a player.
"It’s just a game. Anyone could lose it. I have to relax. So I go to have a party, listen to the music and try to forget the game. But I do not mean to give up for Olympic title is my ultimate goal."
In Athens Olympic Games, Taufik cried again. But this time the tears were for excitement. "I must thank God!" Taufik said after getting the Olympic gold medal.
As for the topic of Lin Dan and him, Taufik said that he had never talked to the former due to different languages.
"There is no problem between us. He is the most outstanding player in the world. But languages are the obstacle of communication for us. I would like to be friendly to any other player in the world including those from Indonesia, China and Denmark. I could make friends with Lee Chong Wei and Peter Gade for we talked to each other in English. I was also eager to make friends with Chinese shuttlers, but we could not communicate. Why aren’t you able to speak English? If you can, we can do something together beyond the court."
Taufik gave Lin Dan a suggestion that watching English movie was a quick way to grasp the language.
Regarding the media’s discussion about them, Taufik was bored about the comparison of them.
"Everyone was asking me about Lin Dan. But Lin Dan is Lin Dan and Taufik is Taufik. I hated some newspaper reported something unreal. They always wrote that Taufik disliked Lin Dan and Lin Dan disliked Taufik. They brought much trouble to us. I don’t want to have any problem with Lin Dan. I hope Chinese media don’t give false report. And I wish Chinese badminton fans give a warm welcome to me."
To the question who was the hardest opponent to him, Taufik gave his answer----Bao Chunlai. In his opinion, Bao Chunlai is the same type as Indonesian player with great techniques and Lin Dan has more strength.
"Bao Chunlai is a very excellent player, but he did not perform steady while Lin Dan did well in this point."
Taufik has a full expectation for Beijing Olympic Games.
"I have been in China for many times. I think Chinese badminton is the world No.1. China is a very large country with a lot of people. They all work hard and I love them. There are so many world No.1 in China. I know US is the top one leading the world. Maybe the next one is China."
Lin Dan and Taufik in Bao Chunlai’s eyes
Lin Dan and Taufik have different types on the court. The media has no need to sensationalize the battle between them.
"We seldom have a talk with Taufik due to different languages. He is very clam, serous and devoted competing with others. And it’s a great pleasure to watch his games. Lin Dan is an aggressive badminton player with his own character. He often makes a standard solute to the audience after victory and shows strong desire for it." Bao Chunlai said.
Bao talked about other opponents as well.
As for Lee Chong Wei, Bao regarded him a good friend worth trusting.
"He is very smart and keeps his word to friends. I asked him to bring me something and he always did it. This kind of little thing showed that he was a nice guy."
As for Peter Gade, Bao Chunlai loved his types of playing badminton very much.
"Peter Gade is from the generation ahead me. I loved to watch his games before I entered national badminton team. Though his ability was not as good as in his top shape, his quick mind with sharp attack impressed me deeply."
