In the badminton field, in addition to the players who rely on sharp attacks on the vertical and horizontal arena, there are also a group of players who rely on indestructible defense to attack the city. Xiong Baoguo, Chen Jin, Chen Long, etc., are all good at using defense to create multiple shots, while mobilizing opponents to consume physical strength, using the opponent's mistakes or fleeting fighters to end the game. For opponents, whether they win or lose, the game with them is not very comfortable, so they are also named "kraft candy", "big grinding king" and "torture king". And the founder of this style of tennis is Han Jian.
First, the tide of the times
Han Jian was born in 1956 in Shenyang, Liaoning Province. He originally practiced athletics, and it was this experience that gave him excellent endurance and laid the foundation for his future achievement as a "kraft candy". In 1973, Liaoning established the badminton provincial team, Han Jian was selected as the first player, and in 1977, the 21-year-old Han Jian was selected for the national team.
Regarding the background of the feather altar at that time, I will introduce it briefly here. The International Badminton Federation (IBF) was officially established in 1934, with founding members including Canada, Denmark, England, France, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Scotland and Wales. Beginning in 1977, the IBF began to host the first World Championships, the first tournament was held in Sweden, and the Danish player Delfus won the first men's singles championship. In 1980, the second championship was won by The Indonesian champion Liang Hailiang. But these two sessions, because China is not a member of the International Badminton Federation, there are no Chinese athletes participating.
In February 1978 in Hong Kong, Asia, including China and Thailand, officially announced the establishment of the World Badminton Federation (WBF), and held the Badminton World Championships in 1978 and 1979, the first in Bangkok by the original ball king Yu Yaodong won the men's singles championship, and the second local World Championships in Hangzhou, Han Jian shined and won the championship. However, because the organizer is WBF, this championship is generally not counted in the current statistics.
On May 26, 1981, for the future of badminton, IBF and WBF conducted many negotiations, and signed a merger agreement on May 26, 1981, the members of the World Badminton Association including China were reunited with the International Badminton Federation, and the World Badminton Federation was officially merged with the International Badminton Federation. This is known as the International Badminton Federation (IBF), until September 24, 2006, when the International Badminton Federation officially changed its name to the current Badminton World Federation (BWF).
Therefore, after 1981, Chinese athletes were able to gallop on the world stage.
Second, the brilliant journey
Han Jian is the first Chinese men's singles athlete to truly conquer the world of badminton.
Han Jian holding a cup
In 1981, at the first World Cup badminton tournament held in Kuala Lumpur, Han Jian performed well in the world championships, passing all the way to the final, and finally defeated India's Prakash, missing the opportunity to win the first World Cup. But he was not discouraged, after all, his journey had only just begun.
In the third Badminton World Cup in 1983, he did not miss the opportunity again, and won the championship with great momentum, which was the first men's singles world championship in the history of Chinese badminton, and its significance was naturally extraordinary. In the fourth World Cup in 1984, Han Jian defeated the junior Yang Yang and became the first men's singles athlete to defend the World Cup title.
In an era when there were no Olympic Games, the World Championships were the highest honors that badminton players chased. At the 1985 World Championships, he reached the final for the first time, and for the first time on the highest stage of badminton, he had the figure of Chinese. The opponent is the menacing Danish king Frost. Han Jian is steady and resilient with his ball style, and Frost has launched a wonderful peak duel with a domineering heavy kill, and the two are like spears and shields. In the first two sets, the two won and lost, after entering the decider, Frost took the lead, constantly impacting Han Jian's defense, and finally exchanged venues with an 8-3 lead, but Han Jian, who was forced into a desperate situation, perfectly showed the power of "cowhide candy", he was always not impatient, steady and steady, insisted on defending the main, waiting for the opportunity to raid the counterattack, Frost was stuck by him, and finally lost 12 points in a row, Han Jian reversed and won the World Championship championship. He once again created the history of badminton in China, the first world championship men's singles champion. Frost, who lost his soul after the game, said he had no idea what was going on.
Han Jian on the field
In the same year, he won the badminton finals and won the title of "World's Best Player" with the first place in the total number of points in the series of Grand Prix. Han Jian also became the men's singles player with the most world champions at that time. He was also the first male player to combine world champion, World Cup champion and Asian Games champion.
Third, the battle of the peaks
Before 1981, Indonesia was the undisputed ruler, meeting a rare opponent in the world arena, winning 7 cups and creating an unprecedented four-game winning streak. However, since the 1960s, Chinese badminton athletes represented by Tang Xianhu and Hou Jiachang have repeatedly defeated the world's top masters in invitational tournaments and friendly matches, and Tang Xianhu and Hou Jiachang have also created the myth of undefeated foreign athletes after becoming famous, and also opened the era of China's badminton "uncrowned king". However, this "king" is "uncrowned" after all, and there is no real world champion, which is difficult to convince the public.
So in 1982, when the Chinese team first stepped onto the battlefield of the Soup Cup, Indonesia vowed to defend its supremacy, and the Chinese team was eager to prove itself in the world. Mars hits the earth, and a big war to change the pattern of badminton in the world begins.
The Chinese team, composed of 8 players including Wang Wenjiao and Hou Jiachang, luan Jin, Han Jian, Chen Changjie, Chen Tianlong, Sun Zhi'an, Yao Ximing, Lin Jiangli and Chen Yue, defeated all opponents in the qualifiers without bloodshed and successfully qualified for the final stage. In May 1982, the victory-hungry team took to the London race.
Wang Wen teaches coaching
According to the draw, the Chinese team successfully byeed in the first round, and faced the European team Denmark in the second round. Han Jian scored two points to help Guoyu advance to the final with an absolute advantage of 8-1.
It is worth mentioning that this year is also the last time to use the BO9 soup cup, and since then it has been changed to BO7, so various factors have made this final peak showdown more exciting and meaningful.
On May 20, the world-renowned summit showdown finally began. After all, it is the first time to participate in the World Series, after all, it is only one step away from the dream of the top of the world, and the Chinese team that participated in the first competition did not have the experience of the old and spicy Indonesian team. Chen Changjie, the first to appear, looked a little afraid in the face of that year's World Cup champion and emperor superstar Lin Shuijing, and finally lost 0-2.
Han Jian, who came in the second game, withstood the pressure and won the young player Pang Ge 2-0 to equalize for the Chinese team. But the men's doubles has always been a weakness of the national feather, Luan Jin/Lin Jiangli, Sun Zhi'an/Yao Ximing all lost the game. 1-3, Kuniyu finished the first day of the race. A BWF director said in a statement: "Looking at the history of the Thomas Cup in the past three decades of finals, no team has been able to turn defeat and win the next day after falling behind 1-3 on the first day. ”
On May 21, the Indonesian team members who were in sight of victory looked refreshed and happy when they practiced before the game. Some people even can't help but take pictures in front of the Thomas Cup as a photo of winning the world championship for the second time.
Luan Jin was the first to play, and the opponent was the eight-time champion Liang Massive. In terms of experience, the 23-year-old Luan Jin is no different from a child in front of him. After Luan Jin won the first set, the second set was seized by the old spicy Liang Massive to catch the weakness and play a 15-1. Fortunately, in the final adjustment of the state, the last set was won 15:9, and the Chinese team won an extremely valuable point, which slightly alleviated the dangerous situation of the Chinese team.
What follows is the real pinnacle showdown, the first master of the two countries, Han Jian and Lin Shuijing. Lin Shuijing was undefeated in this soup cup, but Han Jian did not hesitate to let go, the two of you came and went, Lin Shuijing's feet jumped like a bamboo, but Han Jian could always use defense to turn the danger into a disaster, and finally won a round and entered the decider.
We can't imagine the psychology of the two at that time, Han Jian was saddled with the dream of the whole of China, and Lin Shuijing was also bound to create a miracle of five consecutive hegemonies for Indonesia. This round of thunder and fire, until the 15 draw is difficult to distinguish between victory and defeat, in the end, Han Jian withstood the pressure, took a step back is the cliff, with a sudden kill and a rolling tennis ball, broke Lin Shuijing's undefeated golden body, but also for the Chinese team to move back to the big score.
This big battle also completely ignited the emotions of other teammates, chen Changjie, who had lost the day before, defeated Pang Ge 2-0, Sun Zhi'an / Yao Ximing dared to fight against the world champion combination Ofono / Hertangto, and played a 15-1 score in the decider. Without giving the Indonesians any chance, 5-3, The National Feather won the trophy, which symbolizes the highest honor of badminton, for the first time in the Soup Cup. Han Jian, who scored two points alone, is also known as the biggest contributor to this championship.
Group photo of the 1982 Soup Cup winners
Fourth, quietly turn around
After helping Guoyu win the Soup Cup again in 1986, Han Jian's badminton career can be said to have no regrets, and finally decided to retire at the end of 1986. After retiring from the army, Han Jian failed to bid for the head coach of the national team, and then in 1989, he made a controversial decision to become the head coach of Malaysia. Later, Chen Changjie and Yang Yang also joined one after another, forming a coaching team of the all-Chinese class in Malaysia. In 1992, he led Malaysia to win the Soup Cup, which has been separated for more than 20 years.
After 8 years of working for the Malaysian national team, Han Jian began a short coaching life at the Malaysian Badminton Academy. Now, he is employed by a good friend in the area and begins his work on youth development at a private club. For Han Jian, this is both a new career and a new challenge, for him, this work is the basis of his comfortable life.
But no matter what, Han Jian has never left badminton and has always been committed to the development and promotion of badminton.