In the final of the 2023 Sudirman Cup, which ended on the afternoon of May 21, Beijing time, the Chinese team swept its old rival South Korea 3-0 to achieve three consecutive championships and win the Su Cup for the 13th time in the team's history. At the post-competition award ceremony, 15 members of the Chinese badminton team and head coach Zhang Jun stood on the podium.
A bright five-star red flag was also brought to the podium. After awarding the gold medal, head coach Zhang Jun also raised the heavy Sudirman Cup. The Chinese team, together with the audience, held the national flag and sang the national anthem loudly. This scene can be described as tears in people's eyes.
And as the Chinese badminton team defended its title in Suzhou on its doorstep, five more national badminton players became world champions for the first time. They are Li Shifeng, Liang Weihang, Wang Chang, Ou Weiyi and Zhang Shuxian. Among the five, Li Shifeng is a men's singles player, Liang Weihang, Wang Chang and Ou Weiyi are all men's doubles players, and Zhang Shuxian is a women's doubles player. All five have played in the group stage or knockout stage, and all contributed to the Chinese badminton team's defense of the Su Cup. In particular, Ou Weiyi, in the fourth men's doubles match against Japan in the semifinals of the Su Cup last night, it was Ou Weiyi and Liu Yuchen who partnered to make a miraculous achievement for Guoyu.
At that time, the Chinese team was 1-2 down, and the combination of Ou Weiyi and Liu Yuchen was tied 1-1 with the Japanese men's doubles team in the first two sets. In the third game, Liu Yuchen/Ou Weiyi faced a desperate situation of 16-20. But what is touching is that in the face of the huge pressure of the Japanese team's four match points, the two Chinese men's doubles boys did not relent, scored 6 points in a row to achieve a big reversal, helping the Chinese team to make the total score 2-2, laying a solid foundation for the victory of the Chinese women's doubles in the decisive match.
Li Shifeng, Liang Weihang, Wang Chang, Ou Weiyi and Zhang Shuxian will also be the future core of the Chinese badminton team in the men's singles, men's doubles and women's doubles events after becoming world champions. We also hope that winning the Su Cup with the team this time will enable the five players to complete their transformation and grow into pillars of the national badminton in the future.