Biography
Brief Calendar: Hu Kai Male Han nationality born in April 2002 in Anqing, Anhui Province
Motto: Train like a game, play like a trainer
Achievements: Men's 10m Air Pistol Champion at the 14th National Games
Only by working hard and succeeding will we take care of it
He is a sports rookie with only 4 years of shooting training experience, he is the "dark horse" who constantly stages the miracle of victory over the world championship, and he is the winner of the men's 10m air pistol championship at the 14th National Games.
Young talents study hard and practice diligently
Hu Kai's shooting training began at the Anqing Sports School, when he was 15 years old. "When I was a child, I had a heavy heart, I couldn't sit down and study quietly, and my parents were also very anxious." Hu Kai said that perhaps his parents deliberately let him calm down, so they sent him to a sports school to practice shooting, which opened up a vast world for his life.
Anqing Sports School did not have a professional shooting field, so it had to borrow a place from the Anqing Swimming Sports School, build a shed with the iron sheet commonly used on the ground, and build a 10-meter-long shooting hall in which students practice shooting. Hu Kai recalled this training experience: "The shooting hall environment is poor, it is particularly cold in winter, and it is particularly hot in summer, and many students are practicing bare-chested. It is in this environment that we train hard and prepare for competitions such as the Provincial Games. In the year he entered the Anqing Sports School, Hu Kai joined the Anqing Shooting Team. Every day is a boring and repetitive shooting training, occasionally running to exercise physical fitness, he gritted his teeth and persevered, from a naughty boy who did not understand the world, and gradually grew into a young shooter with a calm heart and a stable personality. "Before 2017, I did not receive sports training within the professional system. The Anqing Shooting Team, like the provincial professional team, was very nervous in training and did not dare to relax one day. Hu Kai said.
In 2018, the 14th Anhui Provincial Games kicked off, and Hu Kai, who had only been practicing shooting for one year, stepped onto the stage of the master showdown. He was only ranked 8th due to a malfunction in his pistol, but this was already an impressive achievement for a fledgling shooting teenager. Thanks to his outstanding performance at the Provincial Games and the development potential he showed, this year, Hu Kai was sent to the Anhui Shooting Sports Management Center to participate in the training.
Compete for gold and silver
In 2019, the second National Youth Games beat the war drums in Shanxi, and Hu Kai walked into the shooting range of the national competition for the first time. "The first time I entered the final hall, the venue was so big, the scene was spectacular, and it felt completely different." Hu Kai recalled that the venue of the shooting final of the Second Youth Congress is different from the shooting sports management center of our province, the former target is not a wall but a curtain behind the target, which shows that the target is very close, making his vision not very adaptable for a while.
Hu Kai, who usually trains hard, quickly adjusts his state, cooperates closely with his teammates, plays steadily and steadily, and finally wins the silver medal and the mixed team bronze medal in the men's team of 10 meters air pistol shooting group B. Hu Kai said that he has become accustomed to high-intensity training life, and as an athlete, he must race against the clock to maintain a good competitive state.
In May 2021, the National Shooting Championship (Pistol Event) was held in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province. This is the final round of the National Games seat competition station, but also the national team before the Tokyo Olympic Games rare training opportunities, including Olympic champions Zhang Mengxue, Pang Wei and many other national team players all appeared, the importance of the event is self-evident, the participants feel great pressure. This time, 19-year-old Hu Kai partnered with 16-year-old Wuhu girl Yao Qianxun to attack the 10-meter air pistol mixed team gold medal.
In the first stage of the qualifiers, Hu Kai and Yao Qianxun crossed the level with a score of 577 rings; in the second stage, the two played well, reaching the final with the first place in the 387 rings, and launched a championship battle with Zhang Bingchen and Lin Yuemei of the Fujian first team. At this time, Zhang Bingchen and Lin Yuemei, as national team players, have been selected for the Tokyo Olympic Team. Hu Kai and Yao Qianxun resisted the pressure, dared to fight, and finally beat their opponents with a score of 17:9, feeling the heavy weight of the national gold medal for the first time. "Only by working hard will success take care of you, and you will know how much potential you have." Hu Kai said proudly.
Quanyun "Dark Horse" Peak Showdown
The National Games, the stage for the best athletes in China to display their talents. From a shooting layman to this stage that attracted the attention of the whole country, Hu Kai only took 4 years.
On September 13, the men's 10m air pistol competition of the 14th National Games began at the Changning Ecological Sports Training and Competition Base in Changning, Shaanxi Province. Olympic champion Pang Wei, who has just returned from Tokyo, and Zhang Bowen, the shooting World Cup champion, competed in the competition, which made the competition even more incendiary. In contrast, the young rising star Hu Kai did not attract much attention.
Shooting competitions are always full of serendipitousness. In the qualifiers, Pang Wei ranked 10th and was out of the cold. Hu Kai is like a "dark horse", with the 8th place result of "wiping the line" to break into the final, and compete with 7 strong opponents from Shandong, Xinjiang, Hebei, Guizhou, Fujian and Zhejiang. Hu Kai said: "Entering the final, even if I lose, it is the 8th, but I am not willing. Spelling out an opponent, you can rise one place, and it is with this idea of fighting opponents that I fight step by step to the end. ”
In the first stage of the final, after each person played 10 shots, Hu Kai had 98.5 rings and tied for 5th. In the second stage of the knockout round, each round played 2 rounds, and after 5 rounds, only Hu Kai, Zhang Bowen and Zhejiang Liu Junhui competed for the championship and runner-up. At this time, Shandong's Zhang Bowen performed eye-catchingly and remained leading, followed by Zhejiang's Liu Junhui, and Hu Kai temporarily lagged behind. In the 6th round, Hu Kai had 20.6 rings, Zhang Bowen 19.9 rings, and Liu Junhui 18.9 rings, so that Hu Kai eliminated Liu Junhui with a total score of 0.1 rings, but still lagged behind Zhang Bowen by 0.9 rings.
At this time, Hu Kai was more and more courageous, he said: "It is difficult to simulate this atmosphere in normal training, and I have a tacit understanding with the coach. I didn't play well in the first two sets of the final, and the coach kept gesturing to me to be positive, concentrate on doing a good job, and pay attention to the movement norms. Later, when I was in a good state, I didn't look at her again, and one shot was better than the next. ”
The last shot was a perfect counterattack
The showdown between the top gunners is a contest of numbers in the final. The numbers behind the decimal point can often form a huge aura that suffocates the audience. Amid the live, brightly paced background music, the crucial Round 7 knockout round of the men's 10m air pistol final arrived.
The first shot, Hu Kai 10.1 ring, Zhang Bowen 9.8 ring, Hu Kai narrowed the gap between the two to 0.6 rings. The second shot will determine the winner's ownership, and the air in the arena seems to freeze. Hu Kai held up the pistol, looked ahead, held his breath, and pulled the trigger - 10.9 rings! Perfect shot!
At this time, the pressure was transmitted to the opponent Zhang Bowen, unfortunately he did not play well, and the last shot only hit 9.8 rings, with a total score of 240.8 rings. In the end, Hu Kai miraculously counterattacked with a score of 241.3 rings and 0.5 against Zhang Bowen, holding his first National Games gold medal in his hand steadily.
"In fact, the last shot, my hand was shaking so hard that I couldn't hold on, I gritted my teeth and braced hard, and my brain only thought about the action." Pulling the trigger in his hand, he thought it should be more than 10 rings, but he didn't expect it to be 10.9 rings. When I heard the audience cheering, I felt that the ground was shaking a little. Hu Kai said.
In the view of Yang Kaimei, the head coach Yang Kaimei, the competition qualification match is not good, the pressure in front is a little large, the back is stable in time, and gradually let go of the hands and feet, especially the final stage is getting better and better, which is also due to the many final scene simulation drills organized before the game, so that Hu Kai's final ability has been greatly improved. "Hu Kai had the problem of 'dropping the chain' with the last shot before, but the last shot in this final played perfectly!" Yang Kaimei praised the beloved disciple.
"I didn't think too much about it before the game, and I just wanted to take it down with one shot and one shot." Hu Kai said, "This is my first time to reach the final of the national competition, but not the last, there is still a lot to work on in the future." "When it comes to the next step, Hu Kai has targeted entering the national team and participating in international competitions." As a young athlete, I want to learn from the seniors of the shooting team, and constantly hone myself through competitions to make my psychology more mature and my results more stable. Hu Kai said that he does not compare himself with others, only compares himself, hopes to make a little progress every day, strive to win glory for the country and Anhui at next year's Asian Games, and look forward to the opportunity to stand in the Paris Olympic Games.
Source: Anhui Provincial Sports Bureau