Chinese Badminton

I suspect that, after CHN's debacle at the last Sudirman Cup where both their WD and XD lost their matches, their doubles team come to Glasgow WC2017 with a mission to make amends or redeem themselves. thus unwittingly stressing themselves out.

Luckily, CHN MD are doing alright, barely scraping through the two QFs for an all-CHN semifinal to be assured of a finalist in MD. In WD and XD, they are down to only pair each to hold the fort at the semifinals.

CHN WS , their weakest link, would've been pathetic if not for the amazing run and giant-killing feat of the young accidental hero, Chen Yufei, whose exploits in taking out two highly fancied formidable opponents, namely, Akane Yamaguchi and Intanon Ratchanok, for a place in the semifinals and assured of at least a bronze medal, is already far exceeding expectations. I'd consider it as mission accomplished for her regardless whether she can survive the semis or enter the final, let alone take the women's singles crown.

 

That's because CHN has too many upstarts waiting in the wings, once a national elite player is not performing for a certain period of time, no matter what their age, either they are replaced or quit of their own.

Wang Yihan herself said part of the reason for quitting was because of He Bingjiao after seeing her remarkable performance in 2016 winning three titles in two consecutive months, namely, Japan Open SS, Bitburger GPG and the French Open SS, as well as beating WYH in the Swiss Open earlier.

I can't help but wonder now if WYH had stayed a little longer and witnessed how not only HBJ suddenly descended into the doldrums but also the onset of the pathetic state of CHN WS , would she have left so soon then ? The same goes for Wang Shixian, esp when Li Xuerui's injury threatens to be career-ending since Rio'16.

 

Great, the coaches are taking Zhao Jianhua's advice to start them as young as possible, not just tactical training but in all aspects and beginning from when they are in their respective provinces so as to better prepare the gifted ones for induction into the national team.

 

Even so , preparing them for next year's Youth Olympics should also benefit them for their future career in the pro circuit, I see no conflicts in the implementation of the development plans for their junior cohort.

Like, as you've emphasized, CBA must give more young players international exposure as nothing beats motivating these teenagers to have a chance to compete overseas with the world's best and gain recognition for their achievements.

 

http://sports.qq.com/a/20170830/182770.htm

It turns out the whole contingent from Glasgow WC back to Beijing was struggling with jetlag upon reaching home and then had to get ready to play the Chinese National Games on the third day, 30th Aug.

First, none of the players get to leave Glasgow early even for those who exited the tournament before the finals. Everybody left Scotland on Monday and arrived Beijing yesterday after 1 pm,Tuesday. Back at the Beijing airport, they were immediately whisked off by coach to Baodi district in Tianjin where the Chjinese National Games is held for a post WC debrief before they were dismissed. After that, in the evening, the various teams for the Chinese National Games were arranged to get acclimatized to the Tianjin sports venue for the last time. Understandably, all those who just came back from Glasgow didn't want to miss the opportunity and went for the practice session.

That means for more than 20 hours at a stretch, none of them get to hit the pillow. No wonder on the morning, 0900hrs local time, for the opening round of the men's and women's team events, almost all of them were still jetlagged.

Chen Xiaoxin, who's not used to travelling such long distances as she didn't have that many opportunities to do so in her junior days suffered badly. She was lagging far behind in G1 to HK's Yip Pui Yin and lost narrowly 22-24 in the third set. She embarrassingly admitted to being not fully awake during the match.

Huang Yaqiong who managed to grab 5 hours sleep on the plane, couldn't get to sleep yesterday night until 2 am and got up at dawn for some training before proceeding to the tournament venue. " I felt as if I was sleepwalking all the time, almost hitting the net shots to the adjacent courts," she said laughingly.

Liu Yuchen wasn't too bad, he got to sleep before 12 midnight after the meeting, Tuesday, and woke up at 6 the next morning (Wed 30 Aug) feeling quite alright.

Lin Dan is the most interesting, at the very mention of jetlag, Lin Dan said during the match today (Wednesday, R1) he was so worried he would fall asleep, and to shake off the effects of jetlag, this afternoon after the match he made up for it by taking a long nap. Seeing him later this afternoon, he said that nap finally helped him adjusted back home.

 

Other than the 17-year-old Guo Xinwa and Wei Yaxin whom I barely remember , the rest are unknown; probably all 2nd or 3rd rate juniors. Obviously, none of them are good enough to play at the ongoing Chinese National Games where other juniors like Bai Yupeng, Han Yue, etc are in attendance.
Nevertheless, good international exposure for all of them, just what is needed to lift their spirits as they looked forward to playing overseas for a chance to prove themselves and gain much-needed experience. Help them grow up faster, esp mentally.

 

Nine Tailed Fox came across this article and asked me what it's about
http://www.qiuxingwang.cn/zonghe/647599.html

Hahaha, I find it very interesting and amusing. Since I had some time at hand, I casually translated it and post it here for everybody to read and enjoy:

The article is dated 17th Mar 2017, and it started thus: Chinese Standard Time, 8th August news, " Come, shake hands", that's how Lin Dan expressed himself on weibo to Wang Shixian, mainly to extend a request for a match, but, beyond our expectations,she said no...He responded" WSX, don't be too much, declining Lin Dan's request and behaving like a proud princess refusing to admit defeat." Afterwards, the two of them looked each other in the eyes and laughed, bystanders upon witnessing the whole show couldn't help but burst into laughter loudly.

Briefly, according to doubles coach , Chen Qiqiu (on his weibo),it all started because there are too few courts and too many players who want to practise for the World championships and the training ground was inadequate, so much so that it was arranged for the MS and WS have to share one of the courts, limited to 40 minutes per two MS players and alternating with the WS. That was the first day of training with only one court available for singles practise. On the next day, it didn't improve much, three courts were set aside but limited to 1 hr session each. The training schedule was drawn up for the MS and WS to follow as planned.

But there was one fellow who didn't play according to the rules, it's none other than Lin Dan. He was being playful and refusing to give up the training/warm-up court to the WS after he finished his session with Du Pengyu, and then insisted on challenging Wang Shixian to a "Grab 5" (i.e.first to reach 5 points) match, and guess what's the result ? He was beaten by WSX 5-0 ! Unthinkable.

WSX was beside herself with joy and proudly walked over to the net to shake hands with Lin Dan who immediately acted downhearted and shaking his head reluctantly extended his hand to admit defeat.

There's more, after another practice session with Du Pengyu, he again refused to give up the court to the WS and went on to challenge Wang Yihan and Wang Xin to a "Grab 5" (first to reach 5 points) match. Luckily, having learnt his lesson, he was better prepared, attacking and smashing fiercely to prevail over both WYH and then WX. After that he even took turns to partner WYH and then WX to play against Jiang Yanjiao.

But, Lin Dan at heart wanted to play WSX again to avenge that humiliating defeat. Thereupon, he requested WSX to a rematch. Although he was previously beaten flat by her , this time he managed with difficulty to beat her, hence the weibo exchange between them at the opening paragragh of the article.

An hour later, the practice sessions ended, in view of the 'outstanding performance' of the practice sessions with Lin Dan, the WS coach Zhang Ning on weibo extended an invitation to Lin Dan - "come and be my WS team sparring partner, OK?"

[Note: The author wrote WYH's name in the title but it should be WSX as told in the story. Also the date of the incident is supposed to be 8th Aug, no year stated but the WC was mentioned, not sure which year. The article itself is dated 2017, Mar 3rd, vonfusing. - Justin]