22–20, 21–16. 2018 In March, the 34-year-old Lin tied Rudy Hartono's record of reaching ten All England men's singles finals, but was foiled in his try for a seventh title by his much younger compatriot, Shi Yuqi in three exhausting games, 19-21, 21-16, 9-21. In May, he won the New Zealand Open by beating talented Indonesian youngster Jonatan Christie in two close games, 21-14, 21-19. Later that month, Lin was a member of the Chinese team which regained the Thomas Cup after four years of absence, though his team was never extended to a deciding 5th match which would have required his services in the third singles position. 2019 In his first tournament of 2019, Lin reached the final of the Thailand Masters, where he lost to the up and coming Loh Kean Yew in two tightly contested games, 19-21, 18-21. In April, at the age of 35, he won his second Malaysia Open title, beating higher ranked compatriot Shi Yuqi, 21-19, 16-21, 21-12 and Chen Long, 9-21, 21-17, 21-11 in the semifinals and finals respectively. However, he withdrew from the Singapore Open during the first round against Viktor Axelsen, citing a "thigh injury", but only after being visibly upset by early line calls. In May, he lost in the semifinals of the New Zealand Open to Ng Ka Long in two straight games, 13-21, 11-21. In November, he lost in the finals of the Korea Masters tournament to Kanta Tsuneyama in two straight games as well, 22-24, 12-21. 2020 Lin begins the 2020 season poorly. In January, he was eliminated in the first round of the Malaysia Masters by Jan Ø. Jørgensen in two tense games, 19-21, 18-21. The following week, he participated in the Indonesia Masters and was defeated in the first round again, this time by Viktor Axelsen, who beat him in two relatively easy games, 12-21, 14-21. Lin then followed up with yet another first round exit at the Thailand Masters where he lost to Ng Ka Long in another two straight games defeat, 18-21, 9-21. At the All England Open held in March, he reached the second round but was defeated by compatriot Chen Long, 17-21, 8-21. This will turn out to be his last tournament as the rest were canceled due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Retirement On 4 July 2020 Lin Dan announced his retirement, saying "at 37, pain and injuries no longer allow