After finishing the post-game training, Chen Yufei was ready to go foraging with her teammates. It was a rare time of her day, and even the figure of her pacing back to the hotel was covered in a golden color by the sunset in Bangkok.
This is a normal day after the Uber Cup, and it is also a typical day in the long open tournament that followed, and finally crossed the difficulties in his heart, chen Yufei also had to move in a new direction.
"Lost" in front of the Uber Cup
Chen Yufei did not expect that the moment she re-entered the Bangkok Impact Stadium four years later, her mind suddenly flooded with many pictures of that year - the carnival of the opponent on the field after losing the game and herself sitting in the audience to watch the final. Of course, now she has added the 91-minute battle that she did not dare to relax the whole time, enough to describe it as thrilling and breathless. She said that the moment she lay down on the ground, she thought to herself: "Finally winning is over." ”
From 2018 to 2022, he played the first singles in three consecutive You Cup competitions, and the Uber Cup has a very important significance in Chen Yufei's heart. Each session's mood is different, she has also experienced the ups and downs from nothing to the peak to zero. Four years ago, the best result of 20-year-old Chen Yufei was the third place in the World Championships, and four years later, with the aura of an Olympic champion, facing every impactor with full strength, the fear of winning and fearing defeat made her once unable to see the light.
In fact, as early as the eve of Guo Yu's departure this year, Chen Yufei had already sensed the difficulty of returning to the field. Before leaving, she had only practiced for more than half a month and needed solid training to have confidence, and in the next few games, she encountered the most serious crisis of confidence - everyone who passed with her did their best to play the impactor of "winning and earning, losing without losing", and with the patience and fearlessness she had once known, she was limited to her hands and feet. Chen Yufei found that his weapon had failed, and the teenager who launched the assault at any time and anywhere was gone. The ups and downs on the pitch also changed her mood.
During that time, the name of "Chen Yufei" always appeared with "poor form" when it was in the news, and although she participated in three races and won two runners-up, she was overwhelmed by the difficulty. When she lost to Jin Jia'en 0-2, Luo Yigang coached instead of blaming, but accompanied her to a game grinding, step by step to find feelings, comforting her not to worry. At the Korea Masters, Chen Yufei stumbled all the way, but she did not have the idea of retiring because of physical discomfort. Her friend Huang Dongping saw Chen Yufei's thoughts and encouraged her to overcome her timidity and persevere. This also made Chen Yufei, who did not want to leave a way out for himself, put a correct mentality, even if he was in a dark place.
Chiang Mai's charge starts with "sandbags"
"My ability is relatively weak, and only by first setting up the training system will the state improve." When you are tired, you will cry with your friends, so that you will feel a little better. Seeing that the Uber Cup was about to start in early May, Chen Yufei took the initiative to apply for the abandonment of the Asian Championship and chose to go to Chiang Mai to prepare for the Uber Cup.
After finishing the Korea Masters, Chen Yufei flew to Thailand with her coach. From Bangkok airport to Chiang Mai base, they circled around and checked into the 700th anniversary sports base before the moon rose. Chen Yufei, who first arrived in Chiang Mai and recuperated for two days, soon began to enter a state of readiness, of which the key was to improve the ability reserve.
On the first day of training, Luo Yigang took out a pair of sandbags and handed them to Chen Yufei, which was an "artifact" that he ran to the local sporting goods store to buy back. Looking at the sandbags that he wore when he was a child for long ability, Chen Yufei tied it to his ankles and practiced for a whole day without saying a word. Looking back now, she bluntly said that after wearing it on the first day, she almost lost half her life. Since then, sandbags have become Chen Yufei's inseparable companions, wearing them every day to practice a technical class.
During the two-week non-stop training in Chiang Mai, Chen Yufei felt a long-lost steadfastness, and the daily training made her live a full and satisfying life. Of course, Chen Yufei, who has a goal, knows that she still needs to reserve more energy.
"Everybody wants to win in team competitions and wants to score points for their team, so every game has unpredictable difficulties." Wanting to be prepared, Chen Yufei proposed a night running plan for the first time in the world. Hearing this wish, Liu Xuanxuan of the gymnastics and the women's doubles group also volunteered to join in, and the Chiang Mai Night Run Trio was established. They run 6 or 7 kilometers almost every day, and although Chiang Mai at night is cooler than during the day, every time they run, they are as soaked as if they were fished out of the sea.
Near the pre-match, Chen Yufei would occasionally feel uneasy. But she knew that surviving the confusion required her to be braver, stronger, and more mature. Gritting his teeth and silently chanting "It is difficult to close the pass", Chen Yufei constantly converted pressure into motivation.
(Night Run Trio Selfie, details in June Magazine)
A single Uber cup with full attendance and full victory
As the curtain opened on May 8, Chen Yufei also began her full-time trip. From the group stage to the knockout stage, 2-0 in five games, she gradually built up confidence and a stronger desire to win. From the scene point of view, during the group stage, Chen Yufei spent more time in each game to win. But after entering the knockout rounds, she showed more and more good competitive form.
In the semi-finals, Chen Yufei played with Ratchano for the third time in the You Cup as fate. Although he had won the opponent 200 days ago, the defeat four years ago would still invisibly knock on Chen Yufei's nerves. However, starting from the cry of winning the first point on the court, Chen Yufei sensed that he could calmly cope with Rachano's shifting, control, and multi-shot holding... Even in the back of the first set, when the opponent chased the score from 17-14 to 17 draws, Chen Yufei was not impatient. At this time, Ratchano seemed to want to read some emotions from Chen Yufei's face, and just when he got up and looked up at the opposite side, Chen Yufei had already calmly walked to the center of the venue and calmly put himself into preparation for the next point. She is no longer the nervous youngster four years ago, after snatching the first point of the semi-final for the Chinese team 21-18, 21-12, she clenched her fists at the camera, and the comfortable smile on her face hid more expectations for the final.
A full-time moment that cannot be wronged
Many key moments of the game, even the audience sitting in front of the TV, will be nervous to watch, but this is Chen Yufei's energy full of moments. At this Uber Cup, where she had thought about all the difficulties many times, Chen Yufei also achieved self-breakthrough in adversity in a way that included all possibilities.
As for which moment in the final she thought was the most critical moment, Chen Yufei replied without hesitation: "All of it..."
Before the final, Chen Yufei watched An's match video many times, although maintaining a total victory record with her opponents, Chen Yufei knew that this would be a vicious battle beyond any previous competition between the two, so she was deeply uneasy. She knows that good athletes must have strong regulatory ability, which is why a single position makes her feel obsessed, but also constantly gives her energy and benefits. Whatever the outcome, she wanted to be prepared. She didn't know how hard the game would be, but she knew that every point of the team game was not easy to say.
The curtain of the final opened, and Chen Yufei entered the room with a light-chasing step. She walked the aisle for 5 consecutive days, and on the last trip, she also secretly resolved to release all the energy. At the beginning, Chen Yufei, who was prepared, quickly entered the state, taking only 7 minutes to take the lead in entering the interval 11-4. Subsequently, she wanted to further control the situation, but she fell into passivity due to the successive return of the ball out of bounds. Relieved of the pressure of the opening, An Xianyao seized the good situation to jump points to reverse, at this time Chen Yufei was eager to pull back the score, the invisible psychological fluctuations made her impatient to play the ball, and the opponent also seized the opportunity to go to the next city first.
At the beginning of the second set, Chen Yufei was still imprisoned under pressure and was led 6-1 by An Xianyao. However, the opponent who changed to the downwind zone also failed to escape the influence of the wind direction, and the return mistakes continued one after another, and Chen Yufei equalized the score and achieved a counter-overtake in the continuous adjustment. She then used her aggressive running and good netting skills to launch an attack to win a set 21-15.
In the decider, Chen Yufei was still struggling to get caught in the adversity of chasing points. Just after an opponent flew to the fish to break the danger, she immediately launched another attack in search of opportunities. But when she followed up from the backcourt to the front of the net, she suffered a setback at her feet and injured her ankle. Reluctant to apply for an injury stop, the medical staff performed analgesic treatment on her wound wrapped in white fixation. After this momentary adjustment, Chen Yufei returned to the field. Absolutely not wanting to repeat the mistakes of the past, she had to gamble everything even if she stood on the cliff and won the game back one point.
From a passive 5-13 trail to a 15 draw, the multi-shot tug-of-war has seriously reduced the physical fitness of both sides. When An Xianyao took the lead in holding 3 match points 20-17, Chen Yufei also exploded with superhuman stability and willpower. She told herself to be patient and not to give up. Under the chase of point after point, Chen Yufei carried 5 points from the bottom to the light. After two consecutive right-handers and Ahn Seol also went out of bounds with two kills, Chen Yufei won the 91-minute battle 22-20. At this time, Chen Yufei, who was fighting for his life, was finally able to lie down on the ground with peace of mind and breathe a long sigh of relief.
During the interview, Chen Yufei would sigh that the decisive battle was too exciting, but in it, she could always deal with these pressures condensed on the field with a firm attitude. They can't be seen or touched, but they subtly affect the outcome of the game. Carrying the pressure of the team competition, the final fight is the precision of the hand, the abundance of physical fitness, and the most important thing - the ability to withstand this pressure.
Analyzing the three sets in the final, Chen Yufei said: "The final of the team competition is not usually on the field because of the pressure. Ann was also very patient, and was still very tenacious when she was about to cramp at the end. During that time, in fact, I played very uncomfortable, because I was behind in the score, but it seemed that I had a chance, so I kept telling myself to be calm, pull slowly, and be careful not to make mistakes. ”
With the victory of this final, Chen Yufei also relied on this responsibility to win points and take a bitter medicine for himself. "It's been four years since I was at my lowest point and I've had this exactly same Uber Cup. In the past six months, a lot has happened, a lot has been experienced, and it has always been difficult to get on track physically and training, feeling that I am in the dark and cannot find a way out. I kept telling myself that if I persevered a little longer and was braver, I might be able to see the light. Finally, today I saw a little light, and the last battle was dark, and I was going to find my own light. As she wrote before the game, Chen Yufei walked through the darkness in the final, one step closer to the light of her own.
This article is an excerpt from the June 2022 issue
——Cover story "Chen Yufei: Crossing Difficulties and Finding Light"