Zheng Siwei / Huang Yaqiong
Chinese badminton doubles team Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong currently rank first in the world in BWF mixed doubles. The two have won many honors with their tacit cooperation and strong strength during their partnership for more than two years. The Olympic championship is the only major championship they currently lack, and will also be their goal for more than a year in the future.
Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong, the mixed doubles pair of the Chinese badminton team, have captured the attention of a large number of fans with their excellent skills and youthful and beautiful appearance. The two started to work together in October 2017 and went on a rampage. They won the mixed doubles championship in three consecutive tournaments: the Macau Gold Tournament, the China Open, and the Hong Kong Open. In 2018, the two people with improved tacit understanding even won nine championships that year, including the Asian Games gold medal and the World Championships championship. In 2019, in addition to defending the world championship, the two also won six championships. With their excellent record, they firmly occupy the No. 1 spot in the BWF mixed doubles world.
Considering the advance layout of Tokyo Olympics , in order to not compromise the strength of advantageous events and adapt to the new competition system of the World Badminton Federation, the Chinese badminton team encourages specialization in Olympic sports and does not encourage athletes to perform multiple sports. Therefore, at the end of October 2017, Zheng Siwei broke up with his partner and Chen Qingchen of the then-popular "Besieged City" group, who specialized in women's doubles. On the other hand, Huang Yaqiong also bid farewell to her old partner and Lu Kai, and the "IELTS" group was launched.
Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong won the Jakarta Asian Games badminton mixed doubles gold medal in 2018
Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong have different styles. The former is full of aura and imagination in playing, while the latter is known for his stability and solid playing style. Form a perfect complement. Nonetheless, it was a surprise for the two to reach the top of three events in a row at the beginning of their partnership.
At that time, although the two were a new combination, because they were both from Zhejiang and had played together in local teams and the Badminton Super League, they had a certain foundation and tacit understanding, so they were able to stand out quickly. When talking about the perfect start, Huang Yaqiong said: "Actually, I didn't expect it. Although the two of us were paired when playing in the league, after all, the world game is still a little different from the league. So when I first started playing, everything was unknown. The third round (championship) is still a surprise."
"In doubles competition, the tacit understanding between players is very important. How to establish a tacit understanding and maintain a good relationship between two players, Zheng Siwei has something to say about this.
He said: "I think two people must trust and tolerate each other. In fact, partners have always been very good in good times. But in times of adversity, it is easy for the two partners to have differences. At this time, the two partners There must be more tolerance between us. Because everyone's personalities may not be particularly the same, so we need to communicate and get along. I think this is the most important thing." Speaking of tolerance, Zheng Siwei also revealed a little secret in the interview To show the good relationship between the two, he said: " I may quarrel with anyone, but I won't quarrel when I meet her."
Feel. It was not easy to strive for the first place in the world back then or to keep the first place in the world now, but which one is more difficult?
Zheng Siwei said without much thought: "Of course it is more difficult to maintain the first place. Because in the process of reaching the first place in the world, everyone can accept your loss, because you are impacting, and you will definitely lose when you impact. There are losses. But in the process of guaranteeing, if you lose, it will be more difficult for everyone to accept. Why do you think you would lose if you are ranked number one in the world? So I think guaranteeing is definitely more difficult."
Continuously improving his own strength to meet the challenges of masters from all over the world, Huang Yaqiong said that the two have been getting to know each other over the past two years to improve their tacit understanding. The two are always studying and learning, "If you have good ideas, share them and teach each other how to play. There is something for both of them to learn from each other.""
The "IELTS" combination, whose strength has been steadily improving, successfully defended the World Championships in 2019 and won such an important championship for the second time in a short period of time together. Zheng Siwei said frankly: "We attach great importance to this event. Because this is an annual assessment of our past year. For this reason, we also conducted closed training, just for this game. Being able to defend the title in the end is a confirmation of our efforts this year. We have become more mature in terms of cooperation and other aspects, and I think it will be reflected in the results of this game. "
" The Olympic championship is the only major honor that this pair currently lacks, and it is also the goal that the two of them usually work hard for. Due to the global outbreak of COVID-19, the Tokyo Olympics has been postponed and the International Badminton League events have been cancelled. When the clouds clear and the fog clears, , locking in Olympic qualification is their top priority, although this goal is not difficult for them.
Looking forward to the Tokyo Olympics, Huang Yaqiong said: "If we can win the gold medal for the Chinese team, of course we will be very happy, but first the Olympics As for the qualifying competition, we didn’t think that far ahead, and we didn’t think about winning the gold medal. But we have always been working toward this goal. "
We will wait and see whether the two of them can finally get their wish.
