Badminton legend Lin Dan has started his next phase of life with a new role as “Daddy Dan” to his son Xiao Yu.
After announcing his retirement in July, Lin Dan still has the sharpness and the physique of the star player he was. In his new role, he said, “When I don’t have much work, I accompany my son like any father.”
“I basically don’t pick him (his son) from school on weekends because he has classes from Monday to Friday and has the weekends off.
“In the past few months, I feel that the whole new experience is quite relaxing and good every day, there is no additional pressure like before.”
Through Sports Sina, the former two-time Olympic champion wished the best for the Chinese team in the coming Olympics.
He said, “I hope the team can maintain their determination and focus as much as possible no matter what difficulties they might encounter, and strive to achieve good results in the Olympics.”
“When I think of Lin Dan, I think of badminton.”
Lin Dan and his wife Xie Xingfang run a badminton academy together in Guangzhou province. Recently, the announcement was made for a series of amateur tournaments named Lin Dan Badminton Classic that would inspire young players to take an active part in the sport.
The first Lin Dan Badminton Classic Open was conducted on 14 November in Nansha with around 300 players in participation. Former world champion and Lin Dan’s wife Xie Xingfang attended the opening of the tournament.
Lin Dan: “Although I am no longer in the national team, I still hope that as a badminton player, I can promote the development of badminton from another aspect. And I hope that my badminton academy would be located in more places throughout the country.”
Super Dan soon to be a gold pro?
Video: Lin Dan motioning his badminton racket like a golf club in a recent public event
“I just started to learn golf during this period (after his retirement), and I hope I will get better in the future and strive to be able to participate in some amateur tournaments.”
