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China’s Chen Jin believes that he is still capable of playing at the top despite struggling for his best form at the Malaysian Open so far.
The 27-year-old former world champion was made to slog before overcoming Hong Kong’s Hu Yun in the first round.
Although Chen Jin barely broke a sweat in the second as his opponent Dionysius Hayom Rumbaka conceded a walkover, he was really put to the test in the quarter-final against Denmark’s Jan O Jorgensen.
After taking the first game 21-16, the Chinese ace lost his focus to allow the Dane to snatch the second game.
Still Chen Jin managed to recover from the setback to win a thrilling encounter 21-16, 20-22, 21-6.
“I lost focus in the second set but it’s not too bad because it gives me a chance to train my endurance levels,” said Chen Jin.
“For me I don’t feel pressured that Chen Long has caught up with me because it is normal for a younger player to overtake an older player.
“I still believe I can qualify for the Olympics, which will be my best achievement in my career and for that to happen I need to focus one match at a time,” added Chen Jin.
The lanky shuttler can do his Olympics qualifying hopes a world of good if he can overcome Janpan’s Kenichi Tago later today to qualify for the final.
That should see close the gap with Denmark’s Peter Gade Christensen who is currently ranked No.4 in the world. Gade is fourth with 7,3862.5500 points while Chen Jin has accumulated 67380.0000 points.
Each country can have a maximum of three players in the Olympics if they are ranked among the top four in the world.
As it stands now, Malaysia’s Lee Chong Wei is standing tall at the top of the standings while China’s Lin Dan and Chen Long are second and third.
