At about 5 a.m. Beijing time today, when most of the domestic audience had already fallen asleep, Zheng Siwei/Huang Yaqiong experienced an unprecedented battle in Huelva. Unsatisfactory, they eventually lost to the Hong Kong duo 21-16, 13-21, 17-21, and ended the World Championship early with the title of defending champion.
Zheng Siwei/Huang Yaqiong won the first set of the game easily, although they established the advantage early, but they were chased by 5 consecutive points when leading 16-10, but fortunately scored 4 consecutive points at 17-16 to win the first set. In the next two games, "IELTS" can be said to be lagging behind the whole process and has been in the rhythm of catching up. Although they trailed by four points in the final stages of the decider, they were still lacking in their skills.
In terms of results alone, this is undoubtedly the trough of the "IELTS" career, and it is also the worst result of the two in the previous World Championships. After the game, they frankly admitted that the game was very bad, playing less patiently than the other side, playing unreasonablely, not stable enough, which indirectly encouraged the other side to play better and better in the next two sets.
"Actually, we did a lot of preparation, but we didn't play well." Zheng Siwei said.
In fact, no matter from which aspect, such as strength, ranking, and hand-to-hand records, "IELTS" has no reason to prevail. Perhaps, they fulfilled the cliché: they lost to themselves. Whether it's the outcome of the loss or the process of losing to the world-numbered Hong Kong group, China, this short trip to Spain is almost a reflection of the "IELTS" group in 2021.
They have not been very smooth since entering the epidemic, of course, this unhappiness is relative to 2019. From 2019 to January 2020, "IELTS" won 9 championships and 3 runners-up, and the limelight is in full swing. However, with the development of the epidemic and the postponement of the Olympic Games, they have fluctuated successively. Huang Yaqiong was injured while training in the UK, which affected her performance in the All England Tournament that year; Zheng Siwei has been affected by arm and abdominal injuries this year, and the training has been intermittent, and Huang Yaqiong even cried emotionally because she could not practice with her partner for a long time.
Against the aura and pressure, they reached the final of the Tokyo Olympics, and Zheng Siwei, who played two injections of anesthetic before and after, reached the end and won an unsatisfactory but equally precious silver medal. After returning to China to quarantine and moving to the National Games, they returned home again, not only did their respective boy and women's groups not stand on the podium, but the mixed doubles were once again relegated to the runner-up, which was too fatal for them.
After the National Games, they chose to rest and adjust, recuperate from their injuries, and returned to the team in early November to restart and prepare for the World Championships. Unlike teammates who have experienced the European season to go through isolation, the difficulty of "IELTS" is the readjustment after more than a month of rest, which is actually tantamount to experiencing the consumption of competitions and isolation. From the perspective of recovery, two months can not fully recover from the injury, Zheng Siwei can only continue to "peaceful coexistence" with the injury, explore the appropriate amount of training, and carry out acupuncture and electric shock treatment every time after training.
More than four months later, they made their debut in international competitions again, and the "IELTS" station was indeed not in good shape, and the pressure they put on themselves was also very high. Once, they won the only world championship gold medal for the national feather in Basel, and they have been carrying the weight forward when the team is difficult; now, they and "Fan Chen" are the most promising main players in the World Championships to achieve good results for the team, coupled with the aura of the defending champion and the sense of urgency to get rid of this year's unsatisfactory.
For Zheng Siwei/Huang Yaqiong, 2021 can be described as ups and downs and full of helplessness, but they are not strangers to it. It's not to uncover the scars, but four years ago they did each experience similar pains before the reorganization, and they all survived, showing that they could withstand the storm. Such a year has finally passed, and their dissatisfaction will surely turn into a greater motivation for the coming year.