Han Jian: Walking down memory lane with a world champion

By Dev S. Sukumar, IANS

Kuala Lumpur : It’s been a long time since Han Jian was seen at a badminton tournament. But then, with the World Championships here, how could he resist?
After all, his name is on the champions’ roster, 1985, Calgary, when he won an incredible match against Morten Frost in the final.


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“I don’t remember much of it,” he laughs.

The match was one of the greatest in World Championships history. After one game each, Frost was leading 8-3 in the decider when they changed ends. The Dane, four-time All England winner, had never won the world title and that lead looked decisive.

But then something happened.

“It seems very funny when I think of it. I didn’t try anything special. We both were rally kind of players, we couldn’t change our game much. We knew that the man who would make more mistakes would lose.

“When the match began I felt I could win because I was leading in the first game until he caught up with me at 11-all. Then … Morten suddenly got two or three crosscourt smashes and won the game.”

“There was something about that side of the court,” recalls Han in an exclusive interview with IANS.

“I won the second game and in the third he started playing from that end and was leading 8-3. But after we changed ends, I somehow pulled it off. I don’t know if it had something to do with the drift in the hall.”

Han had figured in the 1981 World Cup final against Prakash Padukone in the Malaysian capital. The Indian won the title after taking the first game 15-0. He has fond memories of the former Indian ace.

“Padukone was a skilful player, very smart. He was unbeatable at the net. So we had to keep him near the baseline,” he says.

“The other Indians were also skilled, but they did not have the same speed or power. At average speed, they were very good, but once you increased the pace of the game they could not cope.”

The genial Chinese is one of the great names of the eighties, having led his team to a Thomas Cup win and an Asian Games team gold in 1982. He was responsible for Indonesia’s most painful losses in the early eighties, especially in a “friendly” that announced the arrival of the Chinese in international badminton.

Having been part of that Chinese team, he knows first hand the work ethic that goes into making them the formidable badminton machine that has won every title on offer.

“They still train the way we did. Five hours every day,” Han quips with a smile.

“You see, there are good players everywhere – even Sri Lanka has some. But there are some aspects that are not taken as seriously as they should be. Players play at a certain speed throughout the match. But what’s important is not just speed. It’s rhythm.

“Chinese know when to change the rhythm and pattern of play. It’s about sensing those important moments to change the rhythm of play. So it’s about incorporating all that into the system.”

Han has little time to follow badminton as he has to take time off from work because he’s contracted to write for a Chinese paper. He thinks most contemporary players are uni-dimensional, the 21-point scoring system has seen a generation of players willing only to attack and defence and consistency are not given as much importance as they should.

He’s also disappointed that the World Championships are held every year.

When his career began, the championships were held once every three years and later every alternate year.

“You have too many tournaments each year. Earlier you had the World Championships once in three or two years, so players would look forward to it. You prepared with the World Championships in mind. There was so much anticipation among the players and the public.

“But now, if you play for a few years, you have a good chance of winning it because it is a tournament like any other. It has lost its meaning. This is the world title and they have made it cheap.”

“You needed something special to win the World Championships. Look at Morten, he was a great player. But even he couldn’t win it despite making two finals. It was the same with Liem Swie King. They were among the greats of world badminton but they could never win this one.”

Morten Frost and Liem Swie King, owners of numerous titles except the World Championships, can take small comfort from the commiserations of the one man who caused them so much heartbreak.

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