When stars collide

The men's singles badminton showdown between world and Olympic champion China's Lin Dan (left), world No 1 Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia (center) and veteran Indonesian star Taufik Hidayat will be one of the biggest attractions of the Guangzhou Asian Games.[Photo/AFP]

Usain Bolt vs Asafa Powell and Tyson Gay on the track.

US vs Australia in the swimming pool.

China vs the rest the world at the ping-pong table.

International competitions have never been short of great sport rivalries. And the impending Guangzhou Asian Games is no exception as the Nov 12-27 sports gala is likely to produce many mouth-watering matchups between some of the world's best athletes.

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Among them will be a classic three-day contest between the top three male badminton players in the world - China's Lin Dan, a three-time world champion and the 2008 Beijing Olympic gold medalist, Indonesian Taufik Hidayat, the 2005 world champion and the 2004 Athens Olympic gold winner, and reigning world No 1 Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia, who also won silver at the 2008 Games. It is a showdown not to be missed during the continent's premier sports meeting, which is held every four years.

Lin, nicknamed "Super Dan" for his glorious achievements, is believed to have an edge over his archrivals. Apart from the home advantage, the 27-year-old from Fujian province has favorable records against the other two - 14-7 over Lee and 7-3 over Hidayat.

And the fact that Lin, winner of the Olympic title, world championship and Thomas Cup, has not won the Asian Games crown, should provide extra inspiration for him to give his best in Guangzhou. Four years ago, Lin was a step away from the title before falling to Hidayat in the title game at the Doha Asian Games.

However, Lin laughs off the significance of winning the only major missing from his collection.

"I always comfort myself by saying the Asian title is not included in the Grand Slams," he said during a pre-games training session last month.

Lin said he puts more emphasis on the team competition, which will be held ahead of individual play.

"For me, the team competition is more important because it represents the power of a nation," he said.

As for Hidayat, winner of the past two Asian Games titles - in Doha and Busan, a victory in Guangzhou would be significant as it is likely to the last major international tournament for the 29-year-old.

"My goal this year is the Asian Games. I want to defend my title there," Hidayat said while playing at the World Championships in Paris in August, where he settled for silver behind China's Chen Jin.

Lee, who won the Commonwealth Games singles title this month, was in doubt for Guangzhou after picking up an ankle injury, but has resumed training and is hopeful of traveling to China.

His victory over Lin in the Japan Open final in September is expected to be a confidence booster going into the games.

"Hopefully, I will be able to win some of the major titles, which I have failed to do in the presence of Lin Dan," Lee said.

In the swimming pool, a battle between China's Zhang Lin and Park Taek-hwan of the Republic of Korea (ROK) is another duel fans should not miss.

Both are legendary athletes in the swimming histories of their nations - Zhang won China's first swimming world title at the 2009 Rome World Championships with a world-record performance in the 800m freestyle and Park won his nation's first Olympic gold medal in swimming by claiming the men's 400m freestyle at the 2008 Beijing Games.

They have a long-time rivalry dating back to the last games in Doha where Zhang came second to Park in three freestyle events - the 200m, 400m and 1,500m. Zhang also narrowly lost to Park in Beijing in the 400m.

However, the Beijing native managed to turn the tables at the 2009 Worlds by winning gold in the 800m and bronze in the 400m while out-of-form Park failed to advance to the finals.

Zhang is hoping he can continue his edge over the Korean at the home event.

"My goal is the gold medal and my biggest rival is Park," Zhang said in a promotional video for the Asian Games. But for the young swimmer, the real opponent is himself.

The duo met in August when Park defeated Zhang Lin to win the 400m freestyle at the Pan Pacific Championships with the fastest time of the year. Zhang placed third.

"Zhang Lin prepared for this event as a warm-up for the Asian Games, so did I. He may not have been in his best condition. Any how, it was a good experience to compete against each other," Park said.

There will be more fierce rivalries in the pool as China and Japan will once again battle for supremacy.

They were locked at 16 gold medals apiece four years ago in Doha with South Korea - inspired by Park - a distant third.

This time, four-time Olympic gold medalist Kosuke Kitajima will spearhead the Japanese challenge against Zhang-led China.

"Although Japan's swimming team is strong, we need to make use of our home advantage to beat them. We need to beat Japan in our home country. We are all confident about outscoring them," China's coach, Yao Zhengjie, said.

On the hockey pitch, former champions India and Pakistan stand in the way as the ROK looks to defend its Asian Games men's title and book a ticket to the London Olympics.