On December 16, Beijing time, the 2021 World Badminton Championships continued in Spain. With the elimination of three pairs, including defending champions Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong, there are no Chinese names on the mixed doubles event. For this result, Japanese fans were surprised and extremely happy. In their opinion, this is the best chance for the Japanese team to storm the mixed doubles championship of the Badminton World Championships.
The Chinese team is the absolute king of the badminton mixed doubles event in the Tokyo Olympic cycle, and the duo of Zheng Siwei/Huang Yaqiong and Wang Yilu/Huang Dongping have teamed up to win all the world championships from 2018 to 2021. However, this time at the Badminton World Championships, Zheng Siwei/Huang Yaqiong returned to the field after more than 3 months in poor condition, and Wang Yilu/Huang Dongping withdrew due to physical reasons, which directly led to the Chinese team creating the worst record in the mixed doubles event since the 1983 competition. The Chinese team's three-pair combination collectively missed the round of 16, which also made the mixed doubles competition very open, and the Thai combination of Dechabo/Sha Xili, as well as the Japanese strong file Watanabe Yudai / Higashino Yusa became the champions.
Unlike the unexpected misstep of the Chinese team in the strongest event, thanks to the signing and the on-the-spot performance, the Japanese team's five singles recognized as the weakest mixed doubles team shined at this World Championships, and the three pairs all reached the round of 16, including the "Dongdu" combination that fans are very familiar with and loved. For such a result, Japanese fans were ecstatic, thinking that this was their best chance to impact the mixed doubles championship of the World Championships, and the following excerpts were translated: "To seize this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity", "If the Dongdu combination can play at the level of the Tokyo Olympic Games, the chance of winning the championship is really great", "I hope that several players will relieve the pressure, one by one, until they reach the top", "Before the start of the game, they all think that this is the most stable single event for the Chinese team to win the championship, and I didn't want to stop the first two rounds." It is a godsend for the Japanese team, "If you can't win the championship, you can retire and apologize.".