On the average level of participation, the level of competition in the Chinese National Games is no less than that of the World Series and even beyond the World Series, especially in the traditional projects that have developed for many years and have a deep heritage in China, the most representative of course is table tennis.
In fact, the quality of the badminton game at the Chinese National Games is also quite high, and everyone wants to win glory for their respective representative teams. In addition, for many good players who do not get a valuable national team seat in the fierce competition or are folding in the World Series, the National Games is a stage for them to find a place to prove themselves. For the Famous Olympic Champions and World Champions in hand, the Less Psychological Pressure of the National Games is also a competition they want to make their careers more complete.
Who are the men's singles champions of the previous National Games? In this article, the author will sort it out a little and make an inventory according to the timeline for reference. As the 14th National Games is approaching, you may wish to warm up with the author's footsteps and savor the history of Chinese badminton.
I. Wang Wenjiao (1st Champion)
Back in 1959, the first National Games were held in a grand manner, and all the heroes gathered in Beijing to discuss martial arts, and the person who won the first national games badminton men's singles was Wang Wenjiao, a famous player who returned from Indonesia five years ago. As an Indonesian-born overseas Chinese in Nan'an, Fujian Province, Wang Wenjiao has loved badminton since childhood and became famous in the early 1940s, becoming a household name in Indonesia.
After the founding of New China, Wang Wenjiao gave up his popularity and status in Indonesia, resolutely chose to return to China for development and determined to bring advanced badminton technology and concepts back to China, laying the foundation for China to become a badminton power in the future. In terms of combat effectiveness, Wang Wenjiao, who returned from overseas studies, is naturally the leader in China, showing the style of the king in the first National Games and easily winning the championship.
In the mid-1960s, Wang Wenjiao, who was already an elderly veteran, led the team out to play, leaving behind two strong teams that defeated the Danish team and the British team. After returning to China, Wang Wenjiao also began a long-term training of badminton talents, and once guided Tang Xianhu, Yao Ximing, Sun Zhi'an, Luan Jin and other outstanding players. Due to the limitations of the times, the first National Games champion is Wang Wenjiao's most successful competitive achievement. However, with the blessing of the BWF's "Lifetime Achievement Award", "People's Model" National Honorary Title, "Most Beautiful Strivers" title, Overseas Chinese and Chinese Person of the Year and other glorious titles, who can deny the greatness of Wang Wenjiao as a Chinese badminton player?
2. Tang Xianhu (2nd & 3rd Champion)
Like Wang Wenjiao, Tang Xianhu, whose ancestral home is Huadu, Guangdong, was also born in Indonesia and grew up there. In the early 1960s, Tang Xianhu, who was in his early twenties, followed the root-seeking trajectory of his predecessor Wang Wenjiao, and resolutely chose to return to China with a good skill to develop, becoming one of the first pioneering cattle of Guoyu.
At the 2nd & 3rd National Games, Tang Xianhu achieved the feat of defending the title of the National Games, becoming the first person in the history of Chinese badminton to achieve such an achievement. Even more astonishing is that Tang Xianhu, as an athlete, did not lose a foreign war between 1963 and 1975, and developed an offensive routine in front of the Internet control network after rapid downward pressure. Together with his contemporaries Hou Jiachang, Tang Hou and the two were called the "Two Immortals of the Chinese Feather World".
After retiring from the army, Tang Xianhu also cared about Guoyu and served as a coach for many years, mainly guiding men's singles and men's doubles, and successively guiding Ji Xinpeng, Xia Xuanze, Lin Dan and other famous players. Even after retiring from Guoyu at the age of 62, Tang Xianhu still insisted on retiring and continued to contribute to the country as general counsel.
3. Yan Yujiang (4th Champion)
Time back to 1979, because of the influence of the situation, after more than a decade of long development and shutdown of various industries, the National Games were reconvened. At the 4th National Games, Yan Yujiang from Zhenjiang, Jiangsu Province, defeated the crowd and became the national champion.
Counting the men's singles champion in the national championships two years ago, in the late 1970s, Yan Yujiang was the best representative of the men's singles top combat strength in the domestic arena. After retiring from the army, Yan Yujiang chose to stay in the West to develop and coached the Austrian national team for a long time.
4. Han Jian (5th Champion)
In his heyday, Han Jian can be said to be the most difficult player in the world's badminton world, and the Jianghu people gave him the nickname "Kraft Candy", and the one-handed defensive counter-attack technology was unparalleled in the world, the ability to strike back, and the physical strength of almost invincible, all of which were impressive. Back in the 1982 Thomas Cup, Han Jian defeated the Indonesian king Lin Shuijing under pressure in the final, and then defeated another Indonesian player, Pango, becoming a legend who terminated the Indonesian Soup Cup's seven consecutive championships.
At the National Games a year later, Han Jian, a good player in Shenyang, Liaoning, who entered the peak, successfully took the National Games championship. It is worth mentioning that in the 1983 and 1984 badminton World Cups >1985 World Championships, Han Jian won the championship. After retiring from the army, Han Jian stayed in The Ocean to develop and work as a coach, and led the Malaysian team to win the 1992 Thomas Cup. In fact, the development cycle of Malaysian badminton corresponds to the eight years of Han Jian's entry into the Malaysian national badminton team.
5. Yang Yang (6th Champion)
As a Tianwang player active in the mid-to-late 1980s, Yang Yang was from Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, and was called the "Four Heavenly Kings" together with compatriots Zhao Jianhua, Indonesian star Sugiato and Danish star Frost. Among them, Yang Yang, who has almost all the champions of the badminton international competition, has been rated as the "King of Kings" player by the outside world.
It can be said that in the competitive era before badminton officially became an Olympic project, Yang Yang was a strong contender for the first person in badminton, with unparalleled personal footwork and extremely fierce attack. At the 6th National Games in 1987, Yang Yang, who was at the peak, also easily won the championship. At the 1988 Seoul Olympics, Yang Yang became a singles champion in badminton, which was still an exhibition event, which was actually a nominal Grand Slam. After retiring from the army, Yang Yang went to Malaysia to coach and do business, and returned to China after the new century to develop and run a club.
6. Zhao Jianhua (7th Champion)
Back in 1993, Zhao Jianhua from Nantong, Jiangsu Province, became the national champion. As a member of the Four Heavenly Kings, Zhao Jianhua was extremely talented, and became the champion of the All England Open at the age of 20, and defeated frost, Nirhof, Lin Shuijing and Han Jian in the competition.
Incidentally, the era of Zhao Jianhua's rise corresponds to the era when wooden rackets began to be replaced by aluminum alloy rackets, and he is a super genius born for the new generation. In terms of ball style, Zhao Jianhua is gorgeous in footwork, accurate in landing, and extremely strong in heavy killing. More obviously, in Zhao Jianhua's game, you will find that he always masters the rhythm of the game, and uses many of the technologies or concepts that were ahead of the times at that time, such as the assault of the flat high ball, the fake action in front of the net, the backhand in front of the net to push the backfield diagonally, and the pulling attack.
Unfortunately, during the rising period, Zhao Jianhua had two pleurisy attacks and had to stop to recuperate. After his comeback, Zhao Jianhua's on-field endurance dropped a lot, and he didn't really stand on top of the world until the 1991 World Championships. For Zhao Jianhua, the fortunate thing is that he caught up with the Olympic era, and the unfortunate thing is that he is not the best in catching up with the Olympic era.
At the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, Zhao Jianhua, who may only have six successful forces, lost to Indonesia's famous Cai Xianglin in the quarterfinals. In 1993, Zhao Jianhua won the Singles Championship of the National Games with the posture of the last heavenly king in the absence of a new generation in China, and then retired to study abroad. It is worth mentioning that at the Eighth National Games in 1997, Zhao Jianhua, who had long stopped professional training, made a temporary comeback, paired with Zhang Jun to represent Jiangsu to win the men's doubles championship, and helped Jiangsu team win the team championship as a singles player. In this regard, the author can only say that it is worthy of you!
Later, Zhao Jianhua was also the coach who transferred to the management post, and had a quite high status in the Yu Association. Of course, younger fans know this uncle well, and more impressions are derived from the humor and extraordinary game insight he showed as a commentator.
7. Chen Gang (8th Champion)
Chen Gang, 45, is from Hangzhou, Zhejiang. Back at the 1994 World Youth Championships, 18-year-old Chen Gang turned out to be the winner. At the 8th National Games in 1997, Chen Gang continued to cash in on his talent and won the national singles championship. A year later, at the Asian Championships, Chen Gang was crowned king.
According to this development trajectory, Chen Gang will become the number one person carrying the banner of China's men's singles. However, such an outstanding singles player was directly transferred out of the national team in 2000, and he also expressed the idea of retiring after the Announcement of the Olympic list that year, and chose not to play at the age of 25. After all, in that era, it was difficult to fly alone in an individual capacity or to go abroad to play club competitions to make a living. Perhaps in an environment where technology cannot be treated fairly and personal future is wrapped up, choosing to retire early is the most powerful way to resist the hasty fate.
After a long period of retirement and disappearance, when mainstream fans heard Chen Gang's name again, it was the news that he had gone to the South Korean national team as an assistant coach at the request of Lee Mau, who was also a top coach of the national feather. After working in South Korea for a while, Chen Gang went to Poland and France to coach the national team. At present, Chen Gang has returned to China as the head coach of the Shaoxing Feifeng badminton team.
Remembering that after the ugly "handicap incident" in the women's doubles arena at the London Olympics in 2012, Chen Gang was one of several former international players who took the lead in speaking out. But, he wrote on social media: You can exploit the rules, but you can't destroy the Olympic spirit so blatantly!
8. Luo Yigang (9th Champion)
Back in 2001, when the Ninth National Games was held, the most eye-catching player was the then 18-year-old supernova Lin Dan, who was already regarded as the future super king and the biggest favorite to win the championship. However, above the final, after three sets of fighting, Luo Yigang, a mesozoic player from Hunan, staged the myth of a dark horse counterattack, preventing Lin Dan from opening the era in advance in China.
Looking back on Luo Yigang's career, he has never been the facade of guoyu, and the victory over Lin Dan in the final of the National Games is the most proud thing, even if it is only to win you Dan. Back in the 2000 Tang Cup, Luo Yigang played the third singles, but before he could play, the Chinese team had already been defeated by Indonesia, which was already the most valued moment in his national team. In singles, Luo Yigang's best result was third place at the 1998 All England Open and three small Open winners. At present, luo Yigang, 46, is a member of the coaching team of guoyu.
9. Lin Dan (10th Champion, 11th Champion, 12th Champion, 13th Champion)
From 2005 to 2017, the four National Games, Lin Dan achieved four consecutive championships. On the stage of the final of the National Games, Lin Dan first won Bao Chunlai twice, then defeated Du Pengyu, and finally defeated Shi Yuqi.
Haruka remembered that before a confrontation with God on the field, a reporter once asked Du Pengyu how he planned to deal with it, whether he planned to use the young man's physical strength and speed to impact Lin Dan. Hearing the reporter's question, Du Pengyu just shook his head and smiled, and then replied: Oh, in fact, Dan Ge is physically better and faster than all the young people in the team.
When it comes to the tragic characters under Lin Dan's aura, people often think of Li Zongwei, Chen Jin, Chen Long and so on. Of course, Li Zongwei is not the only one who has become a stepping stone to GOAT, from the teenager who was the first to take the lead and then to be directly thrown away from his friend Bao Chunlai, who has never competed in the Olympic singles field in his career and chose to hang up and not play at the age of 26. One will be a thousand bones, probably so!