Dubai: Men’s singles top seed Chen Long of China will be the player to beat at the upcoming BWF Destination Dubai World Superseries Finals, to be held at the Hamdan Sports Complex from December 17-21. The reigning world champion, who won the title in 2012, is the highest-ranked player in the draw.
Chen has been one of the big stars of this year’s 12 elite BWF Metlife Superseries tournaments that have together served as the qualifying path for the Superseries Finals, winning titles in Korea and Denmark and making it to the Final in England, India and Hong Kong.
After Malaysia’s Lee Chong Wei was ruled out with a temporary suspension for an alleged doping violation, Chen took over the top spot in the official BWF Destination Dubai Rankings with 68,260 points this season, earning the right to lead a field that also includes Jan O Jorgensen, Son Wan Ho, Kento Momota, Kenichi Tago, K Srikanth, Hans-Kristian Vittinghus and Tommy Sugiarto.
After winning the Korea Open in January 2014, Chen had to endure a seven-month title-drought before winning the world championships in Copenhagen. China’s No. 1 player in the men’s singles, Chen worked hard to improve during his warm-up routines in northeast China’s Shenyang city this year, and also made some changes in his technique.
In the absence of his biggest rivals in the recent past – legendary 2011 winner Lin Dan and Lee, the spotlight is now firmly on Chen, who will be the biggest draw-card in the men’s singles discipline of the season-ending extravaganza. However, Chen said this year’s field is still one of the most formidable ones ever, and that he didn’t focus on individuals before an event, adding: “Irrespective of who’s up against me at tournaments, I have always relied completely on my own strengths to get as far as I can, and tried to adapt my game according to the match-situation.”
Players from China have always been among the most successful at the BWF Superseries Finals, with the country winning 11 of the 30 gold medals that have been up for grabs across all five categories, in the six editions of the tournament till date. And Chen said that he was proud to carry forward a glorious tradition and was acutely aware of the expectations from a new generation of young fans.
At the 2012 BWF World Superseries Finals in Shenzhen, Chen beat Vittinghus, Daren Liew, Tago, Yun Hu and Du Pengyu en route to the title in his native China. Outlining his goals for this edition, he said: “If I can win the men’s singles championship and help my nation complete a gold-medal sweep there, it will make things perfect in Dubai.”
Chen had visited Dubai in October, taking part in a coaching clinic with kids as a part of Shuttle Time Dubai, the grassroots development programme which has been introduced to create a legacy from the event of increased community participation in badminton. Looking forward to returning to the city, he said: “I’m really eager to play the BWF Destination Dubai World Superseries Finals, especially after my enjoyable visit to the city. Hamdan Sports Complex is an amazing venue and I think all the players will love it.”
