Top men's badminton player Chen Jin is close to securing an Olympic berth after his weekend win at the All England Open.
China's third-ranked player looked in danger of missing the big party until his latest victory put him fourth on the Olympic qualifying table - and saw him beat Chinese No 1 Lin Dan.
China's Chen Jin returns a shot from his compatriot Lin at the men's finals during All England Open, March 9, 2008. Chen won. [Xinhua] |
In badminton, each association is only allowed to send two players to each event at the Games. One exception to this rule is if an association has three players all ranked within the top four in qualifying, which China now does.
Chen, a 22-year-old from Hebei Province, moved into fourth place after upsetting teammate Lin to win the coveted crown, thus potentially putting himself in contention for an Olympic singles medal alongside No 1 Lin and No 3 Bao Chunlai.
"This title brings me a lot of joy because before that I had never beaten him internationally," said Chen. "I just wish it had been the World Championships."
If he can produce some more magic at the upcoming Swiss Open, the next Olympic qualifier, he will be going to Beijing. If not, fifth-placed Dane Kenneth Jonassen has a strong chance of leapfrogging him in the standings and denying his spot as they are so close on points.
Britain's marquee event was effectively Chen's last chance to squeeze into the ranks of contention before the Olympic deadline of April 30. He was world-ranked No 4 heading into the All England tournament but only sixth on the qualifying table.
Given the stature of the field he was up against - the tournament attracted all of the world's top players except for injured world No 8 Peter Gade of Denmark - his victory was more than creditable.
It gained extra weight given his history of collapsing in the semifinals of major tournaments. Last year he only won one of the six International Badminton Federation (IBF) super series events in which he advanced to the final four.
His prospects looked equally dim last weekend as he squared up against world No 2 Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia in the semifinals. In their previous six encounters, Chen had only won one.
But it proved to be his day, with the hungry shuttler swatting Lee away in straight sets to set up an all-Chinese final against Lin.
"Lee is a better player than me. I just tried to push him, to fight him and that's probably why I was able to play my best.
"I always try to learn something from other great players when I face them."
