In the semi-finals of the five-game best-of-three Sudirman Cup, Guoya has fallen 2-1 in the first three games and is just one step away from being eliminated.
In the fourth game, Liu Yuchen and Ou Weiyi partnered in the men's doubles, and they fought with Japan to the tiebreaker - 13-19, and after losing two more points, the match will be over, and the Chinese team will stop at the final four of the Su Cup.
At this moment, a stadium staff member walked through the aisle of the stands, and explained to his colleagues: "Prepare for clearance, prepare for clearance." ”
If there is no miracle, in a few minutes, the stadium will be filled with sighs of disappointment, and even by this time, some fans have already left the stadium in disappointment...
But a miracle happened.
Liu Yuchen and Ou Weiyi completed an impossible reversal.
The Jedi Strike Back that went down in history
The last time China reached the semi-finals of the Sudirman Cup was in 1993, exactly 30 years ago.
At that time, the Chinese team had not yet lifted their first Su Cup trophy, and since winning the Su Cup for the first time in 1995, Guoyu has won the competition 12 times, becoming the most undisputed hegemon in the history of the event.
But this all-time record of never missing a Su Cup final in 30 years almost ended at home.
Against its old rival Japan, China lost two matches, mixed doubles and women's singles, in the first three rounds of mixed doubles, men's singles and women's singles.
In the mixed doubles match, the Feng Yanzhe/Huang Dongping combination played unsteadily with the tiebreaker lead, and lost the victory at hand. After the game, Feng Yanzhe, who made frequent mistakes at key moments, was full of frustration that could not be concealed.
In the women's singles competition, Akane Yamaguchi, who had suffered consecutive defeats before, won a complete victory against Chen Yufei.
After the game, Chen Yufei told the media that poor physical condition was a reason for the loss, "but this is not a reason to lose, or I didn't adjust well." ”
Liu Yuchen
As a result, the burden fell on the shoulders of Liu Yuchen and Ou Weiyi.
This is their first Sudirman Cup match as a group – having previously played in the group stage against Denmark, winning three sets in fierce battles.
"You have to be prepared for very difficult things and then go all out to hit them." At that time, the two of them looked forward to the next Su Cup confrontation - and sure enough, a "very difficult" situation was in front of them.
In Liu Yuchen's view, the tactical effect that he and his partner should have achieved was to limit the Japanese pair's attack in front of the net from the beginning, while mobilizing opponents left and right in the backcourt, but it has never been possible.
It wasn't until the most critical moment of the game that they found their senses.
"[The right rhythm] came a little late, but thankfully it wasn't too late." After the rest of his life, Liu Yuchen looked back on the thrilling moment that had just passed.
This thrill really made everyone ride a roller coaster - the tiebreaker, from facing four match points at 16-20 to saving all match points at 22-20 and scoring six consecutive points to win the game.
Even the old reporter, who was accustomed to seeing strong winds and waves, was shocked and stroked his forehead again and again - "After watching it for so many years, this is really the first time like this." ”
Some netizens said that what Liu Yuchen and Ou Weiyi did was comparable to Liu Guozheng's Jedi counterattack in the table tennis arena that year.
Liu Yuchen rushed to the fans to celebrate.
How to save the match point? By faith
Of course, it was not just the journalists who were shocked, but all the people who followed the game.
When the comeback ended amid deafening cheers from the scene, the head of BWF's media, a bearded man wearing glasses, couldn't help but exclaim — "Crazy," the adjective he used to describe the match.
The fans who had left the stadium before heard the news of Guoyu's reversal and trotted all the way back to the stadium.
At such an adrenaline rush, the creator of this epic reversal seems to have entered a state of "selflessness" for a while.
When asked how he saved so many race points, Liu Yuchen's initial answer was four words: "I don't remember." ”
After trying to recall, he finally recalled several technical highlights, such as "the serve was not bad", such as "the first three beats were more resolute".
Liu Yuchen and Ou Weiyi were interviewed after the game. Photo by Pu Yaolei (01:04)
But what he remembers more clearly is the mentality of fighting to the end at that time, "It was to fight with the opponent, and we did not give up." ”
"I feel very humiliated because when they get the match point, they have already seen the glimmer of hope, and I don't want to lose just like that. No matter how many wins are ahead, as long as we play the men's doubles match, we will go all out for the Chinese men's doubles to win this point. ”
Ou Weiyi also said, "How did you do it... It's the belief in the key points, I don't think I will lose just like that. ”
Driven by strong conviction, the impossible became a reality, which is called a "miracle" by ordinary people. Miracles don't happen often, but this time, they did.
After the game, Liu Yuchen rushed to vent his emotions, "Crazy, really crazy, happy and bad." ”
The audience sang the national anthem. Photo by Pu Yaolei (00:22)
"Steady and steady, I can work overtime"
In addition to the two athletes, there were nearly 7,000 spectators in the audience.
When the game fell into a disadvantage, the audience sang the national anthem to cheer for the national badminton players. In the process of the two achieving a miraculous reversal, the shouts from the grandstand mountain also created the atmosphere of "the devil's home".
When the game was glued and the victory and defeat were only in a split second, the volunteer girl with glasses stared at the arena, clenched her fists, and kept saying to herself in her mouth, "Come on, keep steady, I can work overtime, I can work overtime..."
In the end, the five-run marathon lasted seven hours from 5 p.m. to 0 a.m. But such "overtime" brings all Chinese viewers and staff not sleepiness, but long-lasting excitement and excitement.
"They [the Japanese players] should have been very nervous at the time." Speaking of the oppression of the home atmosphere, Liu Yuchen did not forget to praise everyone at the scene.
However, after the excitement, the whole team did not forget one thing: the Sudirman Cup match is not over.
In front of Guoya, there is still the last level.
This is also why the "Vanchen Combination" did not make too many stops in the mixed interview area after playing the fifth game that sealed the win, and rushed back to the station with the team.
"We will do our best to prepare for the match against the Korean team and rest well." Jia Yifan briefly summarized the game and left quickly.
Indeed, since the final is scheduled for 2 pm on the 21st, it means that from the semifinals to the final, the Chinese team has only an extremely urgent 14 hours to rest.
Considering that South Korea's semi-finals started half a day earlier than China's and only played four games (3-1 against Malaysia), they definitely had the upper hand physically, so Guoya had to seize every minute to rest and prepare.
In the 2017 Sudirman Cup, Guoyu lost the championship to South Korea in the final. Earlier, in the 2003 Sudirman Cup, South Korea also defeated Guoya in the final.
After a miracle night destined to go down in the annals of badminton history, there is one last hurdle in front of Guoya.