Source: Beijing Winter Olympics Organizing Committee official website
The 2021 Women's Curling World Championships ended in Calgary, Canada, and the Chinese team won 6 wins and 7 losses in the round robin, ranking tenth, and Canada, which ranked sixth to advance to the rematch, was only one win away, unfortunately stopping the round robin.
At the last World Championships of the Beijing cycle, the Chinese team, with an average age of 20s, has surprises and regrets. Born in 2000, Han Yu is the captain of this Chinese team, and the first trip to the World Championships, although not perfect, also let the pot fans see the potential of this "squad leader".
Han Yu in the competition (Source World Curling Federation official website)
01. Basketball turn curling
"Does she often do that?"
In Calgary, Han Yu's jug throwing posture attracted the attention of foreign media, and before each shot, she would look down at curling instead of looking at the base camp.
The 20-year-old Han Yu did not come from a science class, and in 8 years, she went from school to the stage of the World Championships step by step.
When she was in elementary school, the teacher took a fancy to Han Yu's height and recommended her to join the school basketball team. In a training, Han Yu's finger was injured, and his parents were very distressed after finding out, and suggested that their daughter change a project.
After entering junior high school, when Huairou District in Beijing vigorously promoted "ice and snow into the campus", Han Yu participated in the curling hall experience with the attitude of trying it out, "At the beginning, I didn't know what curling was, I felt curious, so I volunteered to participate." ”
The first time on the ice, it looks very simple, really on the field but "not ordinary", Han Yu fell a little confused, but not at all annoying, holding back to try to figure it out, "like returning to the kindergarten playground, especially happy." ”
After only one class, she was designated by the coach as the captain of the first team, and this time could not stop.
In the beginning, curling was just a hobby after learning. Because he liked it, Han Yu would always take time to practice, at least 3 times a week. Her grades have not been affected much and have been in the middle and upper reaches.
Curling and academic performance "double excellent", when graduating from junior high school, this Shandong girl who grew up in Beijing finally chose curling after continuing the road of curling or returning to her hometown to participate in the middle school examination.
02. From amateur team captain to national training team "squad leader"
After receiving professional training, Han Yu's strength continued to improve and he began to participate in various competitions. From the National Youth Championships to the World Youth Championships, step by step.
In the 2018-2019 season, Han Yu passed the selection competition of the national youth team together with his teammates, and won the women's championship at the National Youth Championship held in November 2018, and qualified for the World Youth Championship.
At the World Youth Championships, Han Yu led the team to rank first in the round robin stage, but lost to the Russian and Swiss women's teams in the semi-finals and bronze medal matches, and finally ranked fourth.
"My mentality at that time was a bit of a drill, and my teammates also said that I, instead of playing like this, it was better not to let go of anything, but I just couldn't do it."
It was the last World Youth Championship that Han Yu participated in, and after returning, Han Yu, who usually grinned a lot, was silent for a while. With regret, Han Yu was selected for the national training team.
At the end of October 2019, the Asia-Pacific Curling Championship is about to start, and the chinese team's lineup has not been announced. Because of the Olympic points and the World Championships involved, the list has attracted much attention.
When the young player Han Yu, who was born in 2000, was selected as the fourth baseman and captain, not only the pot fans were surprised, but even Han Yu himself was a little incredulous.
"I don't think I'll be chosen because I have more experienced teammates in the team. And the team has to play a game for a month, afraid that I can't do it well. ”
The head coach trusts Han Yu very much, "Her skills are very good, she will become a good athlete, no one knows what kind of heights she will reach in the future." ”
At first, Han Yu was very unconfident, but in just two days, she figured it out, "I think I should believe that I can do it." For the game, the coach didn't give us any requirements to learn from the collision with the strong team. ”
In the Asia-Pacific Championship, Han Yu led the team all the way through the barriers, defeated strong opponents, and finally won the championship. The Chinese team won the Asia-Pacific Championship for the second time in five years and also got the ticket to the World Championships.
"I learned the lesson of the World Youth Championships, the Asia-Pacific competition is to put down the baggage and play, one by one to complete our own games. Didn't think too much, too complicated. ”
Han Yu thus entered the public's sight, and the pot fans affectionately called her "squad leader". Senior Wang Bingyu commented on her: "Although Han Yu's qualifications are relatively shallow, he is very sophisticated and experienced in various emergency handling methods on the field. ”
03. The world championship debut has surprises and regrets
On March 13, 2020, the World Championships were cancelled, and Han Yu's World Championship debut had to be postponed. Since then, Han Yu has been training with the team in the Curling Hall of Beijing Shougang Park.
Due to the epidemic, the players cannot go out to participate in high-level competitions, but no one takes it lightly, because the competition is not only from the outside, but also from the healthy competition within the team.
In October, the team made a swap. Han Yu's role as fourth base and captain has not changed, and Dong Ziqi has been newly added to the team as third base, and the original third base Zhang Lijun and second base Jiang Xindi have been adjusted to the positions of second base and first base respectively. The original first base Zhao Ruiyi formed a new team with Han Siyu, YanHui and Yu Jiaxin.
Who of the two teams will represent the Chinese team on the field of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics is still unknown. At the 2021 Women's Curling World Championships, the Han Yu team got the opportunity to participate.
Han Yu team lacks experience in international competitions (Image source Han Yu social media)
In the international arena, the Han Yu team, which has little experience in the competition and an average age of only in its early 20s, is definitely a "new force".
Coming to Calgary, the Chinese team entered the form quickly, starting with a round robin game of 4 wins and 1 loss. In the ninth round, the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics gold medallist Sweden team was pulled off the horse, 7-5, forcing the opponent to admit defeat in advance. In this game, Han Yu's success rate reached 88%, and in the first half, it reached 94%.
But later in the round robin, the opponents encountered were all experienced, and the winning rate of the young Chinese team also decreased. In the penultimate round, 4-6 defeat to Canada, the Chinese team completely lost the opportunity to advance to the rematch.
In this game, the Overall Entry of the Chinese team was relatively slow. In the eighth set, Han Yu made a mistake at a critical moment, there was no chance of overturning, Han Yu still insisted on cheering for his teammates, but after turning around, with his back to his teammates, Han Yu silently lowered his head, full of self-blame.
The first trip to the World Championships came to an end, with surprises and regrets. In the round robin, Han Yu's 82% spin ball success rate ranked second among all four bases, but the 72% success rate of hitting ranked third from the bottom.
From the first contact with curling at the age of 12, to the professional training at the age of 14, to the 19-year-old taking over the heavy responsibility of the captain of the female team of the Chinese Curling National Training Team, Han Yu showed strength and composure beyond his age. The Beijing Winter Olympics has always been Han Yu's dream, and she said to "look ahead, rush forward, fight forward, and play every base firmly." ”
With 8 months to go until the Beijing Winter Olympics, for the young Chinese team, every experience is to accumulate experience for the Beijing Olympic Games, and Han Yu and her team members still have time to adjust.