World champion Chen Long began his defence of the title at the Superseries finals in Dubai with performances on and off court that helped make up for the absence of his legendary compatriot Lin Dan.
Chen delivered a composed and versatile performance in a 21-13, 21-13 victory over another Chinese team-mate, Tian Houwei, and handled yet another of the many questions referring to the missing Olympic champion with diplomatic good humour.
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The bases of Chen’s victory over Tian, Lin’s late replacement, included a confidence in coping with the slightly drifty conditions in the same arena where he triumphed last year, and a relaxed willingness to accept whatever outcome, a relatively new psychological skill for him.
Chen has become very much his own man now, and he was prepared to answer whether he thought Lin Dan would be missed. “Don’t say that – Lin Dan won’t be happy with it,” he said, elaborating more seriously by adding “every athlete sometimes doesn’t feel well.”
Chen Long day 1 #DubaiSSF pic.twitter.com/9Ed2QAdQN9
— ChenLong_ShixianFC (@C_LongShixianFC) December 9, 2015
Actually, Chen admits to being not in the best shape himself after a hard year of touring, and was critical of his performance.
“I’m expected to win but I don’t feel pressure,” Chen said. “There are only two possible results, and I have the confidence to accept failure if I lose.”
Refusal to accept failure characterised the performance of Ratchanok Intanon, the 20-year-old former world champion from Thailand, who stunningly saved four match points in a 19-21, 23-21, 21-14 victory over Sung Ji-Hyun, the world No4 from South Korea.
Three of them came in a row from 17-20 in the second game. “I just tried not to think too much,” Intanon said. “That’s what I do in training.”
