Lin Dan surprised by Rio Olympic badminton venue

Chinese superstar Lin Dan said Rio Olympics badminton venue could be the most special one among all Olympic venues after the two-time Olympic and five-time world champion sailed past the first group round of the Olympic badminton test event here on Tuesday.

Currently ranked 3rd on world rankings, Lin is the only famous shuttler at the lower-leveled Olympic test event, also named as Brazil Grand Prix, while others are mainly youngsters and lower-ranked shuttlers.

"I felt very tired after flying for almost one day long to Rio. The reason to come here is hoping to know more about the Rio Olympics, such as the venue and climate," said Lin at a press conference.

The 32-year-old needed just 22 minutes to sweep aside Brazilian Igor Ibrahim 2-0 (21-12, 21-5) at the Riocentro venue in Rio's west, where is exact the same venue for next year's Olympic badminton event. However it was the venue with fewer stands that made Lin surprised.

"When I come to the venue, I feel surprised," Lin said. "For me it could be the most special one among all Olympic venues, because there are not so many stands. I don't know whether it will have more stands next year."

Located at a pavilion of an exhibition center near the Olympic park, the badminton venue currently only has a temporary stand of five layers, the seating capacity of which is no more than 500.

General secretary of World Badminton Federation Thomas Lund, who also came to Rio, defended the venue.

"We are progressing with the preparation. It would be different because a stand with 7,000 seating capacity will be built next year around the field of play. After that the venue will look exactly the same as we have in Beijing and London Olympics," he said.

According to Lund, the intention of the test event is to test things people don't see, but would be important for the whole, such as the lighting, field of play, air conditioning, and the operation of volunteers and management team. Endi