Smashing into the Future: China’s National Badminton Men’s Doubles Team Takes Shape for the New Olympic Cycle

[Badminton]In the new Olympic cycle, the national badminton men’s doubles team has been formed, including the Guangzhou team and the Guangdong team

Chen Qiqiu, the head coach of the men’s doubles team of the Chinese badminton team, revealed in his summary of the performance of the men’s doubles team in the Hong Kong Open and the China Open that the Chinese men’s doubles team in the new Olympic cycle will be formed with Liang Weikeng/Wang Chang and He Jiting/Ren Xiangyu. On this basis, the men’s doubles team will continue to select young players, try new combinations, and find the best pairing. The Chinese team will participate in the Arctic Open and the Denmark Open in October, when the two pairs of men’s doubles will strive for good results. Liang Weikeng, the number one men’s doubles player of the national badminton team, is from the Guangzhou team, and Ren Xiangyu, the number two men’s doubles player, is from the Guangdong team.

Liang Weihang (right)/Wang Chang

At the China Open in Hong Kong, China did not send its main men’s doubles team to compete, and only one pair made it to the quarterfinals. At the China Open in Changzhou, the Paris Olympic silver medalist Liang Weikang/Wang Chang returned to the international arena. They had not trained systematically for more than a month, and unfortunately stopped in the top 16. The second men’s doubles team He Jiting/Ren Xiangyu advanced to the finals, but lost 1-2 after a hard three-game battle because Ren Xiangyu’s waist injury recurred.

Chen Qiqiu believes that the “Liang-Wang combination” took a month off after the Paris Olympics and returned to the team on September 3. From the perspective of competitive sports, this time is obviously not enough to adjust from a relatively relaxed state to a very high competitive state. Therefore, he just hopes that the two can finish the game in good health and gradually recover. He feels that Liang Weikeng/Wang Chang’s cooperation and ball sense are all there, but their technical proficiency, physical fitness, and the length of time they can concentrate their energy have not met the requirements of high-level competition. “After the Olympics, Liang Weikeng/Wang Chang received unprecedented attention, and they have extremely high popularity and are loved by everyone. We all clearly realize that only outstanding performance on the court can reflect the true value of athletes. If you want to be competitive on the court, you must go through hard and solid training to achieve it.” Chen Qiqiu feels that this pair still has many small goals to achieve before the Los Angeles Olympics, including the All England Open, the World Championships, the Sudirman Cup, etc. Their immediate goal is to strive to advance to the Hangzhou Finals in December.

Regarding the No. 2 men’s doubles He Jiting/Ren Xiangyu, Chen Qiqiu praised their outstanding performance in the China Open, saying that their characteristics are becoming more and more distinct and their mentality is relatively stable. They said that they lost in the final not because of their skills and tactics, but because of their bodies. “The injury problem needs to be taken seriously by us. We will help Ren Xiangyu with treatment and rehabilitation, and do a good job in preventing recurrence in the future, and arrange the competition and training intensity reasonably.”

He Jiting/Ren Xiangyu (right)

Chen Qiqiu revealed that after entering the Los Angeles Olympic cycle, the Chinese men’s doubles team, with Liang Weikeng/Wang Chang and He Jiting/Ren Xiangyu as the core, will continue to select new players, explore the technical expertise of young players, try new pairings, find the best combination, cultivate new impactful combinations, and form a good competitive atmosphere within the team. He hopes to train each pair of doubles to the extreme in their most outstanding expertise, and pursue comprehensiveness on the basis of highlighting expertise and showing expertise to score points.

Text/Guangzhou Daily New Flower City reporter: Yang Min

Photo/Xinhua News Agency

Guangzhou Daily New Flower City Editor: Du Juan

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