On January 24, the Chinese badminton team officially announced the arrangement of the doubles lineup in the new cycle, except for a few absolute main players retained, most of the other lineups have made major adjustments, especially the mixed doubles ace combination "IELTS" Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong. In addition, the second combination of women's doubles Du Yue and Li Yinhui also split up, and He Jiting and Tan Qiang, who won the men's doubles runner-up at the World Championships at the end of last year, were also split and recombined. The most noteworthy thing is that the men's doubles world champion combination, veteran Zhang Nan and Liu Cheng, are paired again after three years, looking forward to achieving a breakthrough again in the Paris Olympic cycle, for the two super dads, their goal is not only to be a world champion, but also look forward to standing on the Olympic field again and realizing the dream of Olympic champion.
Zhang Nan, born in 1990, and Liu Cheng, who were born in 1992, have both followed GuoYu through three Olympic cycles, especially Zhang Nan, who partnered with Zhao Yunlei and Fu Haifeng to win the gold medal in mixed doubles at the 2012 London Olympic Games and the men's doubles gold medal at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. As the main player of the national doubles, Liu Cheng has also won the World Championships. And a group of their doubles celebrities Zhao Yunlei, Cai Yun, Fu Haifeng, Tian Qing, Yu Yang, Wang Xiaoli and others have retired and bid farewell to the national team, but the two of them have been sticking to the team, not abandoning, witnessing the highlight moment of the national feather, but also experienced a bleak trough.
Zhang Nan and Liu Cheng have been partnering in men's doubles since the 2016 Rio Olympics, and as a result, in less than a year, they won the men's doubles championship at the 2017 World Championships, giving hope to the national men's doubles at the trough. But unfortunately, entering 2018, the two had great ups and downs, forced to split, and began to partner with newcomers, Zhang Nan partnered with Ou Xuanyi, and Liu Cheng was partnered with Huang Kaixiang. Unfortunately, since catching up with the epidemic, they have missed most international events, the Olympic points have been affected, and they can only regret not being able to qualify for the Tokyo Olympic Games, and Zhang Nan's third personal Olympic trip can only be absent. However, at the World Championships in December last year, both pairs competed, but they failed to achieve good results and both were out early.
Zhang Nan and Liu Cheng's re-partnership released a signal that there is no problem with the state and morale of the two, and they will definitely be able to persevere. Looking at the world of badminton, especially the men's doubles, there are many high-level veteran combinations, still active in the competition, such as the Indonesian men's doubles star, the 38-year-old veteran Hendra, still partnering with Ah Shan to compete in the world series, for Zhang Nan Liu Cheng, who is only in his early 30s, there is no problem. The two who have married and had children, no longer the hairy boys of the year, but more mature dads, will continue to fight for their beloved cause, looking forward to their wishes to stand on the field of the Paris Olympic Games, impact the men's doubles gold medal, and create new records and history.