Chen Jin wins Asian Badminton Championships title to edge closer to Olympic spot

China’s Chen Jin nailed his first Asian Badminton Championships title in Qingdao yesterday to take a big leap towards his Olympic Games dream.
Yesterday, former world champion Chen Jin, who had an easy ride into the final when compatriot Lin Dan conceded a walkover due to injury a day ago, defeated Du Pengyu 21-12, 21-18 in a 36-minute final to win his third consecutive international title after the Opens in Switzerland and Australia.
The world No. 5 will now be out to confirm his place with another good showing in the India Open in New Delhi on Wednesday. The Olympic qualifying period ends with this Super Series event.
If Chen Jin takes over the place of world No. 4 Peter-Gade Christensen of Denmark in the world ranking on May 3, he will join world No. 2 Lin Dan and world No. 3 Chen Long to London.

Giant leap: Chen Jin of China returns a shot to compatriot Du Pengyu during the men’s singles finals at the Asia Badminton Championships in Qingdao, China yesterday. Chen Jin won 21-12, 21-18. — AFP

A country can have a maximum of three singles players if all of them are ranked in the top four of the world.
Rather than worrying about the presence of a third Chinese player in London, national coach Tey Seu Bock now sees it as a good thing for Malaysia – especially when the competition will be played under the new format at the Games.
Seu Bock said Malaysia’s world No. 1 Lee Chong Wei may have Chen Jin as company in the top half of the draw while Lin Dan and Chen Long will be in the lower half.
“Chen Jin’s qualification may actually turn out to be good for us,” said Seu Bock before leaving for India with Chong Wei for the Super Series event yesterday.
This year’s competition format at the Olympic Games is not a straight forward elimination round. Singles players will be divided into 16 groups – from Group A to Group P.
Only the group winners will advance to the knockout round. The winners from Group A to Group H will be placed in top half while the winners from Group I to Group P will be in the lower half.
Chong Wei and Lin Dan will be automatically placed in Group A and Group P by virtue of being the top and second seeds. The third and fourth seeds will be drawn by lot into either Group E or Group L.
“If Chen Jin is drawn in Group E and tops the group, he will be in the same half with Chong Wei in the knockout stage. It will be good for us if this happens as the two other stronger Chinese players will be lumped in the other half,” said Seu Bock.
“If Chen Jin does not qualify, China will have two representatives and usually, they will not put two players from the same country in the same half because of the national separation rule.”
“The luck of draw helps but we will not be too overly worried if it does not happen. Ultimately, our focus is to get Chong Wei to be in his best form to meet anyone at any stage.”
In the India Open, defending champion Chong Wei is in the top half with reigning European champion Marc Zwiebler of Germany, Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia, Sho Sasaki of Japan and Simon Santoso of Indonesia. In the lower half with Christensen are Chen Jin, Lee Hyun-il of South Korea, Jan O Jorgensen of Denmark and two other Malaysians – Mohd Hafiz Hashim and Liew Daren.
Chen Jin is expected to reach the final as Christensen is not at his best form. The Dane is still battling ankle problem and would rather take it easy and give his best at his last Olympic Games.
All finals results
ASIAN BADMINTON CHAMPIONSHIPS
Men’s singles: Chen Jin (Chn) bt Du Pengyu (Chn) 21-12, 21-18.
Men’s doubles: Kim Ki-jung-Kim Sa-rang (Kor) bt Hiroyuki Endo-Kenichi Hayakawa (Jpn) 21-12, 21-16.
Women’s singles: Chen Jin (Chn) bt Du Pengyu (Chn) 21-12, 21-18.
Women’s doubles: Tian Qing-Zhao Yunlei (Chn) bt Bao Yixin-Zhong Qianxin (Chn) 21-14, 21-15.
Mixed doubles: Zhang Nan-Zhao Yunlei (Chn) bt Xu Chen-Ma Jin (Chn) 21-13, 21-12.
EUROPEAN BADMINTON CHAMPIONSHIPS
Men’s singles: Marc Zwiebler (Ger) bt Henri Hurskainen (Swe) 21-15, 21-13.
Men’s doubles: Mathias Boe-Carsten Mogensen (Den) bt Michael Fuchs-Oliver Roth (Ger) 21-11, 21-11.
Women’s singles: Tine Baun (Den) bt Julianne Schenk (Ger) 21-19, 16-21, 21-19.
Women’s doubles: Christinna Pedersen-Kamilla Ryter Juhl (Den) bt Line Damkjaer Kruse-Marie Roepke (Den) 21-17, 24-22.
Mixed doubles: Robert Mateusiak-Nadiezda Zieba (Pol) bt Mads Peiler Kolding-Julie Hourmann (Den) 21-12, 24-22.
Courtesy of The Star