Top seed Jorgensen aims to be a great Dane

NEW DELHI: Jan O Jorgensen is the new poster boy of world badminton. The decade of the 'famous four' Peter Gade Christiensen, Taufik Hidayat, Lee Chong Wei and Lin Dan has seen a steady decline. The first two has bid goodbye.
The Malaysian is cooling his heels following a doping sanction. Only Lin Dan is keeping the torch alight brightly as Jorgensen breezes in like a gale of fresh air from northern Europe to defy the domination of the Orientals in shuttle business.
Sho Sasaki failed to put up any stiff resistance to Jorgensen's campaign launch in the India Open on Wednesday. Even Lin Dan, who took over the adjacent court, could not force the Dane to throw a glance sideways.
"I didn't notice Lin Dan. I was trying to win my game. I know he is the main contender here," he said with a smile. "I could feel the crowd shift and I thought it was Saina (Nehwal) or Srikanth (Kidambi)."
The loss in the All England final against Chen Long two weeks ago still is a sore point for the Dane. "I think I tried my best. It was so close. If you win that title you become a legend. I'm sure I am going to get a few more chances. I felt like I did my best and lost to a better player (Chen) on the day."
Any distraction, on or off the court, has thus been consciously avoided. "Today, I just tried to do my routines. I tried to get into my rhythm and right focus. I could not keep the intensity till the very last against a very strong opponent."
Jorgensen had beaten Sasaki in the All England semifinal as well.
Of course, the Rio Olympics in 2016 is the one everybody is waiting for. But Jorgensen is not really letting it weigh heavily on him. "I am here this week and I am trying to win this tournament. I would like to write my name on as many trophies as possible before I reach Rio. So even if I fail there, I would still have had a pretty good season."
But Rio is there on his radar. And he knows like the rest of his fraternity, Lin Dan is preparing for his third successive gold. Jorgensen says, "I hope there will be a new Olympic champion in Rio. I will do my best to stop Lin Dan from winning it. He is strong and he is sharp. The break has done him good."
Lin Dan too broke his monk-like reticence when asked about Rio. "I will practice every day for the third Olympic gold."
The battle for Rio has already started in New Delhi even if it is some 500 days away.