14 September,2015 08:18 AM IST | | AFP
Chinese badminton legend Lin Dan won the men's singles title at the Japan Open final on Sunday with a victory over Viktor Axelsen of Denmark
China's Lin Dan celebrates his win in Tokya yesterday
Tokyo: Chinese badminton legend Lin Dan won the men's singles title at the Japan Open final on Sunday with a victory over Viktor Axelsen of Denmark.
China's Lin Dan celebrates his win in Tokya yesterday. Pic/AFP
Lin, a two-time Olympic gold-medallist and five-time world champion, defeated the 21-year-old Dane 21-19, 16-21, 21-19. The victory was significant for Lin as he sets his sights on a third consecutive men's singles title at Rio's 2016 Olympics. He suffered a setback in August with defeat at the hands of Denmark's Jan O. Jorgensen in the world championships in Indonesia.
"I am training hard to prepare for Rio -- the Olympics is our main focus now -- but I don't want to think too much at this moment about what I might achieve there," he said on the Rio Games website early this month.
In the women's singles final local star Akane Yamaguchi, the winner of the Japan Open in 2013, failed to reclaim the crown when she went down against compatriot Nozomi Okuhara. Ninth women's seed Okuhara, who downed Tai Tzu Ying of Taiwan in the semi-final, defeated Yamaguchi 21-18, 21-12.
