Lin Dan

Lin Dan (Chinese; pinyin: Lín Dān; born October 14, 1983 in Longyan, Fujian) is a badminton player from China. By the age of 27, Lin completed the "Super Grand Slam", having won all major titles in world badminton: Olympic Games, World Championships, World Cup, Thomas Cup, Sudirman Cup, All England Open, Asian Games, and Asia Championships, becoming the first and only player to achieve this feat.He has been nicknamed "Super Dan" by his fans.
In his early years, Lin was encouraged to learn to play the piano by his parents, but chose to play badminton at the age of five. He joined the sports troop of the People's Liberation Army at the age of 13 and has been part of China's national badminton team since 2001 when he was 18.On April 10, 2008, he created controversy when he struck coach Ji Xinpeng in front of his teammates and reporters during the warm-up tournament ahead of Thomas Cup. The incident was reportedly triggered by Lin being unhappy with Ji's starting lineup for the tournament.
Lin has been in a romantic relationship with Xie Xingfang, herself a former world champion badminton player, since 2003.They were quietly married on December 13, 2010 in Haizhu, Guangzhou. Xie initially denied but later admitted the news when reporters got the evidence. Lin reacted angrily towards the news and insisted that it was a personal matter between him and Xie.
Lin emerged as a winner in the 2000 Asian Junior Championships in both the team and boys' singles events. He was also a member of the winning Chinese team and a boys' singles semi-finalist in the 2000 World Junior Championships.
2001 marked the start of Lin's professional career. In his first final, at the Asian Badminton Championships, he was thrashed by compatriot Xia Xuanze.In 2002 Lin took his first title at the Korea Open. He was a member of China's 2002 Thomas Cup squad which defeated Sweden (5–0),[14] Denmark (3–2), and Korea (4–1) to reach the semifinals. However, Lin didn't play in the semifinal tie against Malaysia, which saw China's team tumble to a 1–3 defeat. Lin participated in another four tournaments without coming close to victory. He was knocked out in the first round of the Singapore, and Indonesia Opens, second round of the Denmark Open, and third round of the China Open.In October Lin was defeated in the semifinals of the Asian Games team competition which directly blew China's hope of a gold medal.
Lin started the 2003 season with a third round defeat in the All England Open. He reached a final later in the year at the Japan Open but was beaten by his compatriot Xia Xuanze once again. Lin then made his inaugural debut in the World Championships in Birmingham, England. He breezed past Per-Henrik Croona and Przemysław Wacha in the first two rounds, but was beaten by Xia again in his third round match. After the world meet, he was eliminated in the semifinals of the Singapore Open, third round of the Indonesia Open, and second round of the Malaysia Open. However, Lin ended the season strongly by capturing the Denmark, Hong Kong,and China Opens, and finishing runner-up at the German Open.