Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, June 17 (Reporter Dong Yixing and Wang Haoyu) At the just-concluded Asian Fencing Championships, the Chinese team won a total of 9 medals, 1 gold, 3 silver and 5 bronze, ranking fourth in the gold medal list among the 7 participating teams. Compared with the 3 golds, 4 silvers and 3 bronzes of the last Asian Championships, there has been a certain decline.
Wang Haibin, chairman of the Chinese Fencing Association, said in an exclusive interview with Xinhua News Agency recently that the Asian Championships is a fundamental test for the Chinese team in the new Olympic cycle, and new ideas will be adopted for the next team building.
The Asian Championships is the first comprehensive competition for the Chinese fencing team since the preparations for the new cycle after the Tokyo Olympics. A total of 24 fencers were sent to compete in all 12 events.
Wang Haibin said that this Asian Championships has two main goals, one is to ensure participation and get points, and the other is to find out the situation of teams, athletes and the level of opponents through the competition, so as to prepare for the Olympic qualifying competition that will start next season. Prepare.
The Chinese women’s epee team, which is one of the strongest teams in the world, is not well-organized. Sun Yiwen, the individual champion of the women’s epee at the Tokyo Olympics, is absent. And the team competition failed to reach the podium.
The only gold medal of the Chinese team in this event came from the women’s foil player Shi Yue. She and her teammate Chen Qingyuan joined the final of the individual competition and helped the Chinese team win the silver medal in the subsequent team competition.
Data map: Shi Yue.Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhao Zishuo
According to Wang Haibin, the Chinese women have gone abroad to prepare for the competition since November last year and participated in the World Cup in various stations, so the points are relatively high and the team status is relatively stable.
In other events, except for a bronze medal in the women’s saber, the Chinese team failed to reach the podium in the other four team events. The South Korean team won 12 medals, including 6 gold medals, and ranked first in the gold medal list for three consecutive Asian Championships. The Japanese team won 3 gold medals and ranked second with 12 medals.
“In terms of performance, this may be one of our weaker times in recent years, especially in terms of the number of medals and gold medals. This also objectively reflects that in the new cycle, in addition to the women’s epee, we are currently in the world. A relatively real position, but also a relatively objective reflection of the current situation of the team.”
After the Tokyo Olympics, the Chinese coaching team has been adjusted. The women’s epee team’s French head coach Yuge Oberly and the women’s saber coach Frederic Barack left the team. After careful consideration and investigation, the Chinese team chose two “old acquaintances” in terms of foreign teachers: French saber coach Powell, who had coached in China in the previous two Olympic cycles, and Levasser, the former French coach of the Chinese women’s heavy national team. Served as advisor to the saber and the epee, respectively.
“They know Chinese athletes very well, Chinese culture, and some of our main players. It’s just that they used to be foreign teachers who followed the national team for a long time, but now they are in the form of consultants.” Wang Haibin said.
From a long-term perspective, Wang Haibin always hopes to train young Chinese coaches, such as the London Olympic men’s individual champion Lei Sheng, who is currently coaching the women’s foil team.
Data map: Thunder.Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Meng Yongmin
“Nvhua has been silent for many years. After the reorganization, it is a very young team. Thunder is very hard.” Wang Haibin said, “But if this team wants to reach the level of the top three in the world or even the Olympic champion, Lei Sheng’s team is very hard. There is still a lot to improve in coaching and control of the team.”
The 2022 World Fencing Championships will start in mid-July, which is the next big test for the Chinese team. At that time, foreign consultants will directly participate in the team’s work for the first time. Wang Haibin said that the World Championships will focus on preparing for next season and strive for as many points as possible. At that time, the Chinese team will be more organized than the championship in terms of personnel. Sun Yiwen and other famous athletes who have participated in the Olympic Games may return to the team one after another, but training new players is still the main task.
“For some of our backward swords, especially those who did not appear in the team competitions in the last Olympic Games, we adopted the method of replacing generations to train some young people. Our purpose is also very clear. On the one hand, we will test our Training effect, but also focus on the future.” Wang Haibin said.
Editors: Liu Yang, Yu Sihui, Xu Shihao, Zhao JiantongReturn to Sohu, see more