Chen Yufei Strikes for a Women's Singles Grand Slam
After training in Chiang Mai, Thailand for nearly a month, the Chinese badminton team flew to Japan three days before the start of the tournament, embarking on the journey of this year's World Championships. According to the world rankings of the Chinese badminton team in five events, the women's singles and women's doubles have obtained four full spots, while the men's singles and mixed doubles have obtained three spots. Chinese men's doubles missed the World Championships for the first time due to their low ranking and the split of He Jiting/Tan Qiang.
Chinese women's singles players participating in this year's World Championships include Chen Yufei, He Bingjiao, Wang Zhiyi, and Han Yue, all of whom have shown impressive performance in various competitions in the first half of the year. So far this season, Chen Yufei, currently ranked 4th in the world, has reached the final of the tour five times and won the women's singles championship at the Indonesian Masters. She, who has previously won the Sudirman Cup, Uber Cup, and Olympic Games, would become the new generation badminton women's singles Grand Slam winner if she could win her first World Championships title in her career in Tokyo, and rewrite China's 11 year drought of women's singles championships since the 2011 World Championships.
Along with Chen Yufei in the lower half of the district, there are also Thai generals such as Yin Danong and Chinese Taipei's "first sister" Dai Ziying. Among them, Dai Ziying, who has won three championships this year at the Thailand Open, Indonesia Open, and Taipei Open, is likely to meet Chen Yufei in the semi-finals, staging their fifth peak showdown of the season. According to Singapore's Lianhe Zaobao, Chen Yufei won the Olympic champion in Tokyo last year, but now she is back in the blessed land. She hopes she can make persistent efforts to win the world championship and achieve a grand slam.
Among other Chinese players, He Bingjiao, ranked 9th in the world, Wang Zhiyi, ranked 11th, and Han Yue, ranked 22nd, are all in the upper half. Facing strong opponents such as Japan's Sai Yamaguchi, Spain's Marin, and South Korea's "first sister" An Xieying, there is considerable pressure to advance. He Bingjiao, who has won two championships this year, the German Open and the Korean Masters, has competed in the World Championships for the fifth time and set her goal to win the women's singles championship. He Bingjiao lost to Dai Ziying in the semi-finals of last year's World Championships, who praised her for being very agile and a difficult opponent to play against.
Shi Yuqi's Return
In terms of men's singles, Shi Yuqi and Lu Guangzu are in the upper half, while Zhao Junpeng is in the lower half. If Shi Yuqi, currently ranked 25th in the world, can successfully pass the first two rounds, he is likely to face Indonesian star Jin Ting in the round of 16; If he continues to move forward, Shi Yuqi may face the world's "number one" and Danish famous general Anselon across the net. The Chinese badminton team has won a total of 15 men's singles championships at the World Championships, but the most recent one can be traced back to Chen Long in 2015. Last October, in the semi-finals of the Thomas Cup, Shi Yuqi withdrew from the match after his opponent won the match point. Later, he made inappropriate comments online and was banned for one year by the Chinese Badminton Association and the Chinese badminton team. On July 19th of this year, the Chinese Badminton Association announced that it agreed to allow Shi Yuqi, who was still banned, to participate in the World Championships. According to the official website of the Badminton World Federation on the 20th, it was 10 months since Shi Yuqi last participated in an international badminton tournament. The silver medalist of the World Championships said, "I am glad to be in Tokyo. I am not too nervous, this is a high-level tournament, and I have a lot to learn from players such as Ansei Long, Taotian Xiandou, and Jin Ting."
