Lin, Lee play down possible highly-anticipated duel in badminton worlds final

GLASGOW, Aug. 20 (Xinhua) -- China's Lin Dan and Malaysia's Lee Chong Wei will focus more on themselves than the elusive highly-anticipated contest between the arch-rivals in World Badminton Championships final.

At a press conference here on Sunday, the duo shrugged off too much comment on the duel, saying that they need to focus on every match ahead.

The two greatest ever shuttlers have been drawn into different halves in Glasgow. If so, it will be the 40th career duel between them, one as the five-time world champion, the other making four appearances in a row in the World Championships final.

"Compared with the draw, one more important thing is that we need to do our best, as every player is tough to beat," commented Lin.

"I need to focus more on myself, because there are many strong opponents in men's singles ahead," echoed Lee.

"This year, I have nothing to lose, and just fight. The draw is quite tough for me, so I just try my best," he added.

According to the draw, the second-seeded Lee, in the bottom half, might book a possible quarter-final clash with Olympic champion Chen Long of China, whom he lost to last year in Rio Olympics final. Before that, he was expected to meet another Chinese shuttler Tian Houwei.

Lin was placed in the other half along with world No. 1 Son Wan Ho of South Korea and fellow Chinese Shi Yuqi.

"I will be pretty happy about winning the sixth world title, but I have to do a lot of work before that," Lin pointed out.

For the 33-year-old Lin, promoting the sport of badminton around the world weighs heavier than just winning personal glory.

"Lee and I will meet tough challenges from promising young players, and this is quite normal.

"We want to promote badminton as a mainstream sport, not only in Asia, but also around the world," Lin commented.

"This is not just about me. Much more effort and support is needed from players from other associations and the BWF (Badminton World Federation)," he added.

Lee has observed the increasingly competitive women's singles contest in recent years, and regarded it as good phenomenon for future development.

"During the past few years, China has been very strong in women's singles, but now a lot of players from other countries and regions have emerged. For example, Spain's Carolina Marin won the Olympic and world champion, also with some players from Japan and Thailand. I think this is good for the women's singles badminton," he pointed out.

"Will Glasgow be your last World Championships?" the press conference moderator asked two 30-plus-year-old players the same question, only to get the same answer: "I don't know."

Two-time defending world champion and Olympic gold medalist Marin still put the champion on her radar this time.

"My goal here is to fight for the gold medal. There are some tough matches ahead, but I will think match by match," said Marin. "I don't want to think that I have to defend any title, but rather that I will fight for a new one."

"The Olympic Games were one year ago. I need to forget that I won the gold medal in Rio. Now we are here in a new tournament, and we need to try our best," she added.

Indian shuttler P.V. Sindhu, the Olympic silver medalist, hoped for a better result than her two previous third finish.

"I want to change the color of the medal," she said in smile.

Chinese Taipei player Tai Tzu Ying, world No. 1, is absent in Glasgow.

However, both Marin and Sindhu reckoned that there are still many strong opponents to beat.

"There are some more good players to beat. We are looking forward to our best selves in the tournament," said Marin.