Beijing News Sports | Reporter Wang Xiaoxiao
On the evening of May 18, the Suzhou Sudirman Cup World Badminton Mixed Team Championships ended the competition for the group stage. The defending champion Chinese team beat the Danish team, which has hidden most of the main players, 5-0, and advanced to the quarterfinals as the top player in Group A. Among them, the men’s singles rookie Li Shifeng and the opponent’s “second single” Gomke staged a nearly 90-minute match Fierce battle.
The “IELTS” combination made a good start for Guoyu
The veteran European team Denmark was once a “frequent visitor” to the top four of the Soviet Cup. In 2013, the team lost to the Chinese team in the semi-finals of the Soviet Cup. That was the last time a non-Asian team reached the top four. In the past two competitions, the Danish team qualified for the group stage and was eliminated by the Chinese team that won the championship in the quarter-finals.
In this competition, the Chinese team and the Danish team met in advance in the group stage. In the previous two rounds, the two teams have won consecutive victories, and whoever wins in the last round can become the first in the group. However, the Danish team did not choose to fight for the top seed, but hid the top mixed doubles Christiansen/Bor, the world‘s No. 1 Axelsen in men’s singles and the top two women’s singles. Prepare for the quarter-finals.
Guoyu sent the highest-ranked players in the team in all four events except men’s singles. In the first mixed doubles match, the world‘s No. 1 Zheng Siwei/Huang Yaqiong faced the 31st-ranked Terry/Ma Grande and easily won the first game 21-9. The two were behind most of the time in the second game, but the “IELTS” combination played steadily and achieved a reversal at the end of the game, winning a “good start” with 21 to 19. After the game, Zheng Siwei said that the two played twice in the group stage, and their performance was not satisfactory at the beginning, but they played very well when chasing points. “There is still room for improvement.”
Guoyu sent “second single” Li Shifeng in the men’s singles
The originally high-profile men’s singles contest was greatly reduced due to Axelsen’s avoidance. The Chinese team also did not send Shi Yuqi, who has already won two games in a row, but Li Shifeng, who is ranked 11th in the world, and his opponent is Gemke, who is ranked 19th. In the first game, the two sides were biting the score. In the second half of the game, Gemke made more mistakes. Li Shifeng gradually opened up his opponent and won the game 21-15. In the second game, Li Shifeng hit a 9-1 climax when he was behind, chasing the score to 16. But Gemke, who played fiercely, scored 5 points in a row to tie the game.
In the deciding game, Li Shifeng fell behind again at the start. However, he strengthened his active attack in the second half of the game, and finally scored another victory 21-15. The game took 89 minutes. After the victory, the Chinese rookie was very excited and staged a side somersault celebration that fans love to talk about. “Today’s game was really hard. The opponent made changes in the second game, which created great difficulties for me.” After the game, Li Shifeng said that he was always adjusting his mentality in the deciding game, so that he should not worry, “I just want to , we must resist this tone, fight to the end with our opponents, don’t think about the result, and do the process well.”
Li Shifeng passionately celebrates the victory
In the women’s singles competition, Guo Yu’s “first sister” Chen Yufei swept the Danish team’s “triple single” Ryan Kristofferson 21-8, 21-11, securing the first place in the group for the host. In the subsequent men’s doubles match, Ou Xuanyi/Liu Yuchen defeated Europe’s top men’s doubles Astrup/Rasmussen 21-14, 19-21, 21-11. Chen Qingchen/Jia Yifan defeated Malcolm/Tigerson 2-0 in the women’s doubles match. The Chinese team did not lose a set in the group stage, only lost 3 games, and advanced to the top 8 as the first place in Group A.
Photo courtesy of Suzhou Su Cup Organizing CommitteeReturn to Sohu to see more
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