Original title: Shi Yuqi wins Indonesia Badminton Championships to realize the 35-year dream of the national badminton team (theme)
Previously, the national badminton team had only won the men’s singles championship three times in this event (sub-title)
Beijing Youth Daily reporter Liu Ailin
Yesterday evening, the most eye-catching men’s singles final of the Indonesia Open Badminton Championships ended. Chinese player Shi Yuqi defeated the Danish star Anders Antonsen 2-1, winning the World Badminton Federation Tour high-level events for two consecutive weeks, and winning the championship for the Chinese badminton team again in 35 years, adding a perfect footnote to his ascension to the top of the world. With a wave of 16 consecutive victories in international competitions, Shi Yuqi seems to have opened up his Ren and Du meridians and has become the favorite to win the men’s singles championship at the Paris Olympics.
The second match of the year ushered in 16 consecutive victories
In the men’s singles final of the Malaysia Open, also at the Super 1000 level, earlier this year, Shi Yuqi lost to Antonsen 0-2. This was the second time the two had met this year. Both are top four players in the world men’s singles ranking, and both are potential candidates for the men’s singles championship in the Paris Olympics.
Before the Indonesia Open, Antonsen won the Indonesia Masters and European Championships in addition to the Malaysia Championship, while Shi Yuqi won the Indian Open, French Open and Singapore Open men’s singles championships. After losing to Indonesian player Jonathan in the semi-finals of the Asian Championships on April 13, Shi Yuqi has not lost a game. He won all 6 games in the Thomas Cup as the No. 1 men’s singles, making the first contribution to the national badminton team’s recapture of the Thomas Cup. He won the Singapore Open with 5 wins, and after coming to Jakarta, he also won consecutive games, with a winning streak of 15 games, and only one win away from winning the long-lost Indonesia Open men’s singles championship for the national badminton team.
After winning the first game 21-9, Shi Yuqi relaxed in the second game and was defeated by Antonsen 12-21. In the final game, Shi Yuqi regained his fighting spirit and suppressed his opponent, winning the final game 21-14, winning the third and most important title of the Indonesia Open for the national badminton team.
The previous champions were all from the 1980s.
For Shi Yuqi, this championship is very meaningful. This is his first Super 1000 championship this season, and it is also the best interpretation of his world No. 1. For the Chinese team, it is even more meaningful. You know, the last time the Chinese badminton team won the championship of this event was 35 years ago. Shi Yuqi fulfilled the long-cherished wish of several generations of Chinese badminton men’s singles. Before Shi Yuqi, the Chinese badminton team had only won three men’s singles championships in this historic Super Tour, all from the 1980s. The champion in 1989 was Xiong Guobao, and before that, Han Jian and Yang Yang. Even Lin Dan, the double Grand Slam winner of the world badminton world, and Chen Long, the champion of the Rio Olympics, have no history of winning the Indonesia Open. Especially Lin Dan, in his brilliant career, it is very regrettable that he only lacks the championship of this station.
Since the beginning of the new century, the host player Taufik Hidayat has won the Indonesia Open six times, Malaysia’s “big brother” Lee Chong Wei has won four times, and other champions belong to Japan’s Kento Momota, India’s Srikanth, South Korea’s Lee Hyun-il, Denmark’s Jorgensen and Axelsen, and Indonesia’s Sunil and Santoso. During this period, China’s badminton team had players reach the finals six times, but they all lost without a single win. The runners-up included Chen Hong, Bao Chunlai, Du Pengyu and others, who never won the championship. Therefore, it is not an exaggeration to say that Shi Yuqi’s victory this time has surpassed his several predecessors with outstanding records in a sense.
China’s men’s singles team becomes world No. 1 after eight years
After a months-long suspension from the end of 2021 to the 2022 World Championships, Shi Yuqi seemed to have experienced a new life after his return. He took one step at a time and spent more than a year steadily improving his condition and ranking. Finally, before the Olympic year and his 30th birthday, he climbed to the top of the world badminton men’s singles ranking, and the Chinese men’s singles finally appeared in the world’s No. 1 position after eight years.
With only 50 days to go before the start of the Paris Olympics badminton competition, Shi Yuqi entered an invincible state, which seemed to inject a shot of adrenaline into the national badminton team, especially the men’s singles championship plan. Shi Yuqi’s strong recovery is one aspect, and the other three Olympic champions, namely the current world-ranked players Anders Antonsen, Jonatan, seem to have different problems and their status has declined. In particular, Anders Antonsen, who has long been ranked first in the world, is no longer the invincible badminton overlord and will inexplicably lose to players who are ranked much lower than him.
Of course, Shi Yuqi’s advantage against the above-mentioned masters, including his teammate Li Shifeng, is not obvious enough, so that his fans, while happy, still tease “Little Stone” why he always has to play three games to beat his opponent. Can’t he finish the battle in two games? In any case, the continuous victories and championships, and the leap to the top of the world men’s singles ranking, have given Shi Yuqi more confidence. The victory in the final game shows that Shi Yuqi is mature in psychology and spirit at the critical moment. There is reason to expect him to win the Olympic men’s singles championship for the national badminton team again after eight years.
focus on
Defeated old rival An Xiying and Chen Yufei to successfully defend the title
Yesterday afternoon, the finals of the two women’s events of the Indonesia Open Badminton Championships were held successively. After the women’s doubles Chen Qingchen/Jia Yifan lost 0-2 to South Korea’s Lee So Hee/Baek Ha Na and missed the championship, the Chinese women’s singles number one Chen Yufei defeated her old rival An Se Young 2-1 after three hard-fought games and successfully defended her title. The finals of both events were the world’s No. 1 against the world’s No. 2. Chen Yufei won a victory for the Chinese badminton team and took perfect revenge after a week, finally winning the first championship of the season. In the women’s singles competition of the Paris Olympics, the gold medal is still a big suspense.
The finals of these two women’s events were very interesting. Both of them were clashes between the world’s top players, and both were matches between Chinese and Korean aces. The result was that the world’s second-ranked player defeated the world’s number one. The “Fan Chen” combination did not perform well, sending their opponents to the championship throne. In the following women’s singles final, many fans thought that Chen Yufei, who had no advantage in recent head-to-head records and lost to her opponent in the final of the Singapore Open last week, could not withstand An Xiying’s fierce offensive, but the number one women’s singles player of the national badminton team won a wonderful victory and achieved the defense of the event.
The two had just faced off in the women’s singles final of the Singapore Open on June 2, with An Se-young winning 2-1. A week later, the two met again. As the No. 1 women’s singles player in the Chinese and Korean national teams, and long-term stable members of the BIG4 in the world women’s badminton, Chen Yufei had a slight advantage in the previous matchup with 11 wins and 9 losses. However, in the past two or three seasons, An Se-young, who is four years younger, has made greater progress and has long occupied the world’s No. 1 throne.
In the final of the Hangzhou Asian Games last year, An Se-young defeated Chen Yufei despite her injury and won the championship. That match also showed another side of An Se-young on the court, which was her mental growth. However, Chen Yufei was not completely at a disadvantage. In the Japan Badminton Masters held in November of that year, Chen Yufei won the match with An Se-young 2-1, ending the latter’s 28-game winning streak.
Only 7 days later, the two met again in the final. Chen Yufei was the one who entered the state faster this time, and won the first game 21-14. As the world’s No. 1 female singles player, An Se-young won a game with the same score. The two entered the final game again. Chen Yufei suppressed her opponent in the first half of this game and maintained a 3-4 point lead for most of the time. But after entering the second half of the game, An Se-young gradually gained momentum and once narrowed the gap until it was tied at 18-18. At the last moment, Chen Yufei was calm and scored 3 points in a row, and finally won the victory.
In this Indonesia Open, An Se-young is still the biggest obstacle for the Chinese women’s singles champion. She defeated He Bingjiao and Wang Zhiyi successively, and both were 2-0 wins. Among the current Chinese women’s badminton players, only Chen Yufei can compete with An Se-young, and her strength is the closest. Although An Se-young is considered the biggest favorite to win the women’s singles championship at the Paris Olympics, and the Korean media has already credited this gold medal to An Se-young, it seems that this judgment is too early now. Chen Yufei still has the possibility of defending the Olympic women’s singles championship. The gap between the two is not big, and it will all depend on her performance on the spot.
Co-ordinator/Wang Yong
2024-06-10 03:08:56
#Shi #Yuqi #wins #Indonesia #Badminton #Championships #fulfilling #35yearold #dream #Chinese #national #badminton #team #Sports #China #Workers #Network
