“Post-00s” are in full bloom and eye-catching
——Guo Yu’s first three stops in Southeast Asia to test the results of winter training
China Sports News reporter Zhou Yuan
With the conclusion of the Indonesian Badminton Masters last Sunday, the three-stop Badminton World Tour event in Southeast Asia that the country sent its main players to participate in this year came to an end. From the Malaysian Open to the Indian Open to the Indonesian Masters, in three consecutive weeks of competition, Guoyu won a total of six gold medals and six silver medals, leading all teams. The five individual events were all in full bloom, and all of them won championships. Players born in the 2000s even won four gold medals.
In the Malaysian Open, the first stop of the year, which is also a Super 1000 level event, the Chinese badminton team entered three finals and won two gold medals and two silver medals. The men’s doubles “post-00s” combination Liang Weikeng/Wang Chang and the women’s doubles “post-00s” combination Liu Shengshu/Tan Ning won the men’s and women’s doubles championship respectively. Shi Yuqi won the men’s singles runner-up, and Zhang Shuxian/Zheng Yu won the women’s doubles runner-up.
In the second stop of the Super 750 India Open, even though some of the main players were affected by illness, the national feather team still reached the four finals and won one gold and three silvers. Shi Yuqi went one step further and broke the 15-month championship drought. Chen Yufei, Zhang Shuxian/Zheng Yu, Jiang Zhenbang/Wei Yaxin won the runner-up in women’s singles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles respectively.
In the third Super 500 Indonesia Masters, the national feather team reached the three finals and won three gold medals and one silver. Zheng Siwei/Huang Yaqiong, the world‘s number one mixed doubles player, won the fifth Indonesian Masters championship. Wang Zhiyi, a “post-00s generation”, won the women’s singles championship again after winning the 2022 Asian Championships. Liu Shengshu/Tan Ning won the women’s doubles championship for the national feather team. Won the second championship of the season. Zhang Shuxian/Zheng Yu won the runner-up place in three consecutive races.
In singles, Shi Yuqi in men’s singles and Wang Zhiyi in women’s singles both broke their individual championship droughts and broke through the window paper, which played a more important role in the psychological level of the two. Shi Yuqi, who “goes all out in every game”, finally realized his desire to win the championship, which also boosted his confidence. Wang Zhiyi won the Badminton World Tour Championship again after four years. It was also her first time to win the Super 500 and above high-level events. The championship also made her more determined to impact and work towards Olympic qualifications.
In doubles, two “post-2000” pairs Liang Weikeng/Wang Chang and Liu Shengshu/Tan Ning won three gold medals together. The young people continued to maintain a strong impact in the new season. The world‘s number one mixed doubles pair Zheng Siwei/Huang Yaqiong stopped in the quarterfinals in Malaysia due to illness and subsequently withdrew from the India Open. The “IELTS”, which has not yet returned to 100% in the Indonesian Masters, still won the championship, showing its hard power in this event. In particular, they defeated the Korean combination Kim Won-ho/Jung Na-eun who lost in the Malaysian Open 2-0 and succeeded in revenge.
The most eye-catching performance in the three games was undoubtedly the women’s doubles event, which contributed two golds and two silvers despite the absence of top players Chen Qingchen/Jia Yifan. The finals of the Malaysia Open and Indonesia Masters were staged one after another in China Derby. Liu Shengshu/Tan Ning defeated Zhang Shuxian/Zheng Yu twice in the finals and had the last laugh. Zhang Shuxian/Zheng Yu have reached the finals in three consecutive games, showing rare stability. While the two pairs are engaged in fierce internal competition for Olympic qualifications, they are also jointly defending the honor of the national badminton women’s doubles.
Playing three games in a row will be a great test and challenge for the players’ physical fitness and energy. In the end, all five individual events won championships at the beginning of the new year, and both newcomers and veterans made gains, which also tested and affirmed the effectiveness of the national feather winter training some time ago.