Chinese Badminton

I'm reposting the following view here as it's more appropriate for further discussion:

If Li Yongbo doesn't step down after Rio, things in CBA will remain more or less the same, only cosmetic changes at most, until Tokyo 2020.

I say this not because LYB is no good, no, he's been magnificent but just that he's been at the helm for too long, and since the London clean sweep, he's mellowed a lot,very much a changed man, no longer that demanding nor exacting but, instead, very accommodating, quite tolerant of failures and those not meeting his expectations for a long period of time, as if he's resting on his laurels.

As he's said before, he has become more concerned about leaving a lasting legacy than chasing purely for golds as he nears his retirement age.

The problem is the situation of Chinese badminton has deteriorated more and faster than we expected and, if the rot is not stopped soon enough, it will continue to get worse before it gets better. That's extremely worrisome.

 

To be fair to Li Yongbo, he's much misunderstood, unfairly criticized and maligned here. Actually, he has his softer side but most of us only see his strong-willed character, outspokenness, arrogance, and his leadership capabilities and ability to get things done; otherwise, he won't unwittingly allow Chinese badminton to fall to such a sorry state four years after the unprecedented LOG'12 clean sweep.

Surprisingly, the last few years he's become less resulted-oriented but sort of more people-oriented, so unlike the first 15 years or so of his 23-year tenure as Head Coach (since 1993) when nothing less than gold or the world championship matters to him. Now , at age 53, born 18 September 1962, his marvellous achievements as Head Coach is second to none and well-documented. However, the last couple of years, he's less driven, no longer ambitious though he still sets his target on creating 100 world champions which by his definition includes both individual and team titles.

But all good things must come to an end, that's life. He has been around for far too long to be able to see things differently to actually recognize where the problem lies even when the rot has already set in before his eyes, sort of in denial, consoling himself that it's only a hiccup, a temporary or isolated incident, that it's a normal cyclical thing, the problem will go away in a matter of time. As he's become an integral part of the system he created in CBA, I'm afraid he can't see he is part of the problem, and as long as Team CHN continued to deliver albeit at a decreasing rate even his boss at the China Table Tennis and Badminton Center is willing to leave things be and give him the benefit of the doubt, taking into consideration all his past huge contributions.

The problem is it didn't get any better but continue to worsen year after year, beginning from 2013 WC, then declining further in 2014, the whole of 2015 being what he finally admitted was the worse year, but,no, it's not the bottom yet as 2016 , the Olympic year promises to be even more heart-aching as the most important event in the four-year cycle looks to be tanking - first , after the IOC/BWF new ruling limiting the max quota to 2 reps per category for each NOC was implemented, CHN WD, traditionally their strongest link,was hit by a self-inflicted crisis; second, XD, another of their strong discipline, partly owing to Zhang Nan doing double duty, flopped miserably at the semifinal stage;third, in MD, their supposed weakest link performed better than expected with one pair advancing to the final after surprisingly having two pairs at the semifinal stage; fourth, in WS, only Li Xuerui is left standing as WYH crashed out in the QFs; fifth, MS is the only category where their two aces are still on course to attain the ultimate goal. At this stage, I shan't go into further details as the final outcome is still unknown. Suffice to say, the overall picture looks unpleasant, if not grim, showing Team CHN practically under siege from all sides, a reverse from what it was in London 2012. So much has changed in just four years.

Last but not least, the question is what can Li Yongbo do when he himself is required to play the villain, grab the bull by the horns, take drastic action after an honest,deep, brutal, no-holds-barred analysis of the entire situation leaving no stone unturned, even if it means hurting the very people he helped groom and nurture over the years. The other question is how and is he willing to rock the boat. If not, then he has to go and hand the task over to someone else in the hope that new broom sweeps clean.

 

Sorry,I'm reposting my view at the Olympic tournament thread here as appropriate:

CHN really needs new blood - Li Xuerui can't perform at the individual major tournaments, her mentality issue is too serious, no sport psychologist can help her except herself; Wang Yihan is too unpredictable, inconsistent, and getting old relatively speaking; and Wang Shixian lacks a killer weapon. The latter two are expected to retire soon.

The younger cohort has to step up to the plate as quickly as possible. It's a crisis situation.

 

The rot continues. No more delay, no more excuses, no more in denial. High time for CBA to act and stop the rot. Fast. Four years come and go more quickly than you thought. It's not a long time when we talk about going to the root of the problem and taking drastic remedial actions which take time to monitor and produce results.