In 2023, the Badminton World Championships ended, and the China team won 1 gold, 1 silver and 4 bronzes to meet the difficulties and play every game well (competitive observation).

Source: People’s Daily

Core reading

On August 28th, the China team finished the World Badminton Championships with 1 gold, 1 silver and 4 bronzes. China team takes the old and brings the new, observing opponents and tempering the team through competitions. Next, the China team will continue to sum up experience and polish their skills, so as to accumulate strength for the upcoming Hangzhou Asian Games and the Paris Olympic Games.

In the early morning of August 28th, Beijing time, the 7-day 2023 Badminton World Championships ended all five individual finals in Copenhagen, Denmark. China, which sent 28 participants, won 1 gold and 1 silver in women’s doubles and mixed doubles respectively, and 4 bronze medals in women’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles.

In the face of the last badminton World Championships before the Paris Olympic Games next year, the China team will take the old and bring the new, observe their opponents and temper their teams through the competition, and constantly accumulate strength to meet the next challenges.

China’s women’s doubles performed brilliantly, and Chen Qingchen/Jia Yifan became the combination that won the women’s doubles championship the most times in the history of the World Championships.

Of the five events in this World Championships, except for China team Chen Qingchen/Jia Yifan, who successfully defended their titles in women’s doubles, all the other four champions reached the top for the first time. In the fierce competition of famous rookie, the game is full of variables, but it also provides opportunities for more players to stand out. As Zhang Jun, the head of China Badminton Association, said, only by playing every game in a down-to-earth manner can we take every step steadily on the road to the Paris Olympic Games.

In Glasgow in 2017, Chen Qingchen won the women’s doubles championship for the first time with Jia Yifan. This time, they joined hands again, defeated the Indonesian team in straight sets in the final, and stood on the highest podium of the women’s doubles in the World Championships for the fourth time, which also became the group that won the women’s doubles championship the most times in the history of the World Championships. After six years of common growth, the cooperation between the two athletes has become more and more tacit. Chen Qingchen said that from daily training to competition, they can always encourage and help each other, which is the key for them to overcome difficulties and win the game.

"We have tasted both victory and defeat." Jia Yifan said with emotion. In these years, she and Chen Qingchen have climbed the peak and experienced the trough. At the Tokyo Olympic Games, the pair failed to win the women’s doubles gold medal as expected, leaving no small regret. Since then, they have always been "holding back their strength" and showing high morale in competitions. Next, it is the direction of their efforts to achieve good results in the Hangzhou Asian Games and the Paris Olympic Games and win honor for the team.

In the final of mixed doubles, China’s top seed Zheng Siwei/Huang Yaqiong lost to South Korean team Xu Chengzai/Cai Yougan 1∶2, failed to defend her title and won the silver medal. In the face of the opponent’s recently improved competitive strength, Zheng Siwei concluded after the game that he could do better in details. Compared with last year, the "IELTS" combination has experienced some ups and downs this season. How to better hold the advantage of mixed doubles needs to be carefully adjusted.

The world badminton competition is fierce, and more young players are on the podium.

In the 2022 World Championships, Thailand’s men’s singles player Kun Lavoute, South Korea’s women’s singles player An Xiying and India’s men’s doubles player Rankiredi and other post-00 players boarded the podium, injecting a youthful atmosphere into the event. In this World Championships, more young players have emerged. There are at least two post-00 players in each individual quarterfinals. Kun Lavoute and An Xiying won the men’s singles and women’s singles titles respectively.

China’s young players are gradually taking the lead in the team. Liang Weikeng/Wang Chang, the men’s doubles team, won the bronze medal in the World Championships for the first time, but in the face of good results, they kept coming back, thinking that "they haven’t played 100% yet". How to keep a steady mind and reduce mistakes when falling behind, and how to seize opportunities and expand advantages when leading … They have a deeper understanding of the game through experience in winning and losing.

After the Tokyo Olympic Games, the men’s doubles badminton event in China was reorganized, and many new couples grabbed points from scratch. After a short period of one year, the China team won four seats in the men’s doubles event in this World Championships, with Liang Weikeng/Wang Chang and Liu Yuchen/Ou Weiyi ranked No.3 and No.6 respectively. In particular, Liang Weikeng/Wang Chang’s performance this season is even more eye-catching. They broke into the finals of the World Badminton Federation Tour for four times and won two championships and two Asian games. At present, they are ranked third in the world, the youngest and highest among the four main men’s doubles teams of China.

After 00, Jiang Zhenbang/Wei Yaxin, a mixed doubles group, only started to participate in world high-level events this year, and won bronze medals on their first trip to the World Championships. Zhang Shuxian/Zheng Yu, the women’s doubles team, participated in the World Championships for the second time and finally joined hands on the podium. These two couples made it all the way to the semi-finals. Although they eventually lost to their more experienced teammates, their accumulated experience and confidence in their hard work will be their driving force.

The one-year Olympic points cycle has begun, during which every points race must be fully committed.

In women’s singles, all four players of China team are seeded players, but three players, Chen Yufei, He Bingjiao and Wang Zhiyi, appeared in the same half, which made China lose the group advantage. In the end, Chen Yufei, who reached the semi-final, lost 0: 2 to An Xiying, the top women’s singles player in South Korea, and won the bronze medal. In conclusion after the game, Chen Yufei said that he played a stable role but failed to break through, and he should continue to improve his comprehensive ability in response to the competition.

China sent four players to participate in the men’s singles event, and the best result was to enter the quarter-finals. Among them, Li Shifeng, the champion of men’s singles in the All England Open this year, ranked the highest in the world, and his performance in this World Championships was not stable enough. Xia Xuanze, head coach of the singles team of China Badminton Team, said that young players should clearly realize the difficulty of climbing the peak, constantly temper their will, strengthen their beliefs and face the difficulties.

In this World Championships, five individual gold medals were concentrated among South Korea, China and Thailand, among which South Korea, which won three gold medals and one bronze, became the biggest winner, and will also become one of the main competitors of China in Hangzhou Asian Games. "Our players, especially young athletes, should guard against arrogance and rashness, concentrate their thoughts and devotion on the field and play more boldly." In Xia Xuanze’s view, the strength and training level of badminton teams in the world today are similar, and the solid foundation and on-the-spot play determine the direction of the competition.

Looking at the Paris Olympic Games, the one-year Olympic points cycle has begun, during which every points competition must go all out. According to the rules, in the final ranking list of Olympic points announced on April 30, 2024, each country (region) Olympic Committee must have at least two players ranked in the top 16 in singles and two players ranked in the top eight in doubles in order to get two full seats in each event. China team must strive to get more qualifications and lay a solid foundation for creating good results.

"We will make a good connection between the future competitions, pay close attention to training and respond flexibly, constantly improve the fighting spirit and morale of the whole team, and unite to advance towards the goal." Xia Xuanze said.

(Liang Yan participated in the writing)