Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, December 24 (Reporters Ji Ye, Ding Wenxian, Xu Shihao, Tian Guangyu) At the end of the year, the 2023 badminton season with a dense schedule has finally come to an end, and the new 2024 season is already waiting in Kuala Lumpur two weeks later. Taking advantage of this rest period, the Chinese badminton team is conducting winter training at the Training Bureau of the State Sports General Administration. During this period, Zhang Jun, chairman of the Chinese Badminton Association, accepted an exclusive interview with a reporter from Xinhua News Agency, summarizing the gains and losses of national badminton in 2023, analyzing the advantages and disadvantages of five individual events, and looking forward to the 2024 Paris Olympics.
On May 20, Zhang Jun (right), chairman of the Chinese Badminton Association, cheered for the players on the sidelines.
Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Li Bo
2023 keywords: reversal, maturity, expectation
Looking back on 2023, Guoyu achieved three consecutive Sudirman Cup championships, won the Asian Games men’s team championship and the Asian Mixed Team Championship, and its performance in individual events was also remarkable.
Zhang Jun used three keywords to summarize Guoyu’s 2023. The first is “reversal”. In this year’s Sudirman Cup semi-finals, men’s doubles Liu Yuchen/Ou Xuanyi turned the tide and evened the score when the Japanese team held four match points. The Chinese team finally defeated their opponents 3:2 to advance. In the men’s team final of the Hangzhou Asian Games, from 0:2 to 3:2, the Chinese team once again won the championship with a shocking reversal.
On October 1, Chinese team players were on the podium for the badminton men’s team championship at the Hangzhou Asian Games.
Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Chen Bin
The second is “maturity”. Zhang Jun said: “Young national feather players have emerged this year, such as Li Shifeng and Weng Hongyang in men’s singles, Liu Shengshu/Tan Ning in women’s doubles, and Jiang Zhenbang/Wei Yaxin in mixed doubles.”
The third is “expectation”. Sitting on the edge of the heated training ground, Zhang Jun, who once partnered with Gao Ling and won the mixed doubles championship at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and the 2004 Athens Olympics, said with emotion, “It feels like everyone is very much looking forward to the 2024 Paris Olympics!”
Paris Olympics: Prepare solidly for gold medals
In more than seven months, the Paris Olympics will kick off. Zhang Jun said that the national badminton team will make an all-out effort to win five individual Olympic championships.
The Paris Olympic Points Competition runs from May 1 this year to April 28 next year. As of now, all five national badminton events have met the full participation requirements. However, in Zhang Jun’s view, it is useless to have a full quota of Olympic seats at this stage, because the rankings will fluctuate after each station, and the national badminton players must prepare carefully for each station.
On December 17, Zheng Siwei (right)/Huang Yaqiong competed in the mixed doubles final of the 2023 BWF World Tour Finals.
Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Sun Fei
After returning from the Japan Masters in November, Guoyu began to enter winter training, which will last until the end of February next year, after which Guoyu will go to Europe to compete. During the winter training, individual team members will go to Southeast Asia to participate in 2 to 4 competitions in January next year. In order to improve the physical reserves of the team members, Guoyu has developed an exclusive training plan for each team member, and also organizes the whole team to go to Xiangshan Mountain Climbing Exercise every week and conduct collective morning exercises every week.
Badminton has competitions almost every week, but Zhang Jun believes that after a long season, it is normal for players to be tired, but during the competition, continuous participation will make the players’ hearts tight. After winter training, he believes that the mental fatigue of the players will be alleviated. At the same time, injuries and diseases must be prevented, which will help the team welcome the new season in better condition.
Individual analysis: Each has its own strengths and still needs to be improved
Zhang Jun commented on the status and challenges faced by the national badminton players in the five individual events one by one.
In the men’s singles, Shi Yuqi gradually regained his form after his return from the ban last year. Zhang Jun believes that Shi Yuqi still needs to overcome mental problems in the future. 23-year-old Li Shifeng won the very important All England and Asian Games men’s singles championships, and won a key point for the Asian Games men’s team to reverse the championship. Zhang Jun affirmed him, but pointed out that his stability was lacking and that he had played against the famous Danish player Axelsen relatively few times.
On October 7, Chinese player Shi Yuqi (left) and Chinese player Li Shifeng shook hands after the men’s badminton singles final of the Asian Games in Hangzhou.
Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Jiang Han
Zhang Jun believes that the men’s singles competition in today’s badminton world is in a melee stage. “Axelsen may be the strongest, and the others are about the same strength, but Axelsen’s probability of losing is now higher than last year. I think there will be more uncertainty in the men’s singles at the Paris Olympics.”
Women’s singles Olympic champion Chen Yufei is carrying a heavy burden ahead in 2023. She has lost more than she won against her main opponents, but she has surpassed herself in constant summaries. Zhang Jun believes that Chen Yufei is undergoing a transformation. “After winning the championship in Tokyo, Chen Yufei’s main opponents intensified their targeted research on her, and younger generations also began to form an impact, which naturally caused her to carry a burden. But every time she loses, just like Chen Yufei She said it herself, she will be stronger and realize where she falls short.”
On May 21, Chinese team player Chen Yufei celebrated her victory after the women’s singles match in the final of the 2023 Sudirman Cup World Badminton Mixed Team Championship.
Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Li Bo
Zhang Jun said that South Korean player An Xiying has made great progress this year. He hopes that on the basis of Chen Yufei, the young players of the national badminton women’s singles can jointly attack the main opponents like An Xiying and Japanese player Akane Yamaguchi.
Four years ago in Tokyo, the national badminton team failed to reach full participation, and only one pair of men’s doubles teams competed. Today, combinations such as Liang Weikeng/Wang Chang, Liu Yuchen/Ou Xuanyi have taken up the national badminton men’s doubles banner. Zhang Jun admitted that the top ten men’s doubles players in the world are all capable of winning Olympic gold medals. Although Liang Weikeng/Wang Chang currently rank first in the world, they sometimes lose points continuously. Liu Yuchen/Ou Xuanyi turned the tide in the Sudirman Cup, which shows that the two have excellent psychological quality, but Liu Yuchen’s injuries need to be controlled, and the speed of movement on the field also needs to be changed.
On November 26, Liang Weikeng (right)/Wang Chang celebrated scoring in the men’s doubles final of the 2023 China Badminton Masters.
Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Mao Siqian
In Zhang Jun’s view, Chen Qingchen/Jia Yifan, the world number one in women’s doubles, have become better and better in controlling the rhythm of the game after losing in the Tokyo Olympic finals. However, they were slightly fatigued in continuous battles, resulting in poor performance. Stability, as they age, it is crucial to ensure their sufficient physical fitness and systematic training.
Another women’s doubles pair, Liu Shengshu/Tan Ning, won their first career Super 750 championship in the second half of the year. Zhang Jun admitted that the process of this young pair’s transition from the youth arena to the adult arena was indeed smoother than he imagined. Moreover, as Tan Ning switches from singles to doubles, the difficulties will be greater and there will be greater room for improvement in the future. In addition, Zhang Shuxian/Zheng Yu are also in the competition for Olympic qualification in the national badminton women’s doubles. The main opponents of the national badminton women’s doubles are from South Korea and Japan.
On December 17, Chen Qingchen (right)/Jia Yifan competed in the women’s doubles final of the 2023 BWF World Tour Finals
Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Huang Zongzhi
In mixed doubles, there are three pairs of national badminton teams competing for Olympic qualifications, namely Zheng Siwei/Huang Yaqiong, Feng Yanzhe/Huang Dongping, and Jiang Zhenbang/Wei Yaxin. Zhang Jun said that these three pairs formed the old, middle and youth echelon. In addition, the mixed doubles combinations of South Korea, Japan, Thailand, France and Denmark are also relatively strong.
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责编：杨帆 ]
2023-12-25 01:45:00
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