a berth in the final against long time rival Indonesia. Here, Lin led off with a comfortable victory over familiar opponent Taufik Hidayat, as China went on to capture its eighth Men's World Team title; its fourth consecutively. After the Thomas Cup triumph, Lin played in the World Championships in Paris, France. He won his opening match and then beat Henri Hurskainen and Bao Chunlai in the second and third rounds respectively before being upset by Park Sung-hwan in the quarterfinals. That day also saw his archrival Lee Chong Wei exit from the tournament which was eventually won by Lin's compatriot Chen Jin. Lin then bounced back to win the China Masters, but lost the final of the Japan Open to Lee Chong Wei the following week, and conceded walkovers in the quarterfinals of both the China Open, and Hong Kong Open late in the year. However, Lin managed to win his first ever Asian Games gold medal in November by beating Lee Chong Wei in final, thus, at 27, becoming the first player to win all of the present major titles available to Asian men in badminton, both individual and national team. Lin was voted the most valuable player (MVP) at the games' closing ceremony. 2011 Lin began the year with a withdrawal in the Malaysia Open's quarterfinals, which marked his third consecutive withdrawal since late 2010. This action brought some criticism, particularly by well known fellow competitor Taufik Hidayat. The very next week Lin sprang back to win the first ever million dollar badminton tournament, Korea Open by beating Lee Chong Wei in the final. He next won the German Open, beating his compatriot and reigning world champion Chen Jin in the final. At the prestigious All England Championships in March his hopes for a fifth title were put on hold when he was defeated by Lee Chong Wei in the final. However, in April he won his second Asian Championships on a day which saw China sweep all five titles and in May he helped China to a fourth consecutive Sudirman Cup title by defeating Denmark 3–0 in the final. In June, Lin's withdrawal from the Singapore Open final due to gastric flu drew jeers from fans in the stadium. Just few days later, he was upset by Sho Sasaki in the second round of Indonesia Open. Healthy again in August, Lin won his fourth World Championship