Flat 20 months ago an indicator! The men's singles show signs of rebound, when will it return to the top?
In the new badminton world ranking list announced on June 13, China's Shi Yuqi and Li Shifeng ranked 6th and 10th in the men's singles respectively. This week's ranking is an unusual improvement for Guoyu men's singles and the two of them: Guoyu once again has two spots in the top 10 men's singles ranking after 20 months, Shi Yuqi has achieved the highest personal ranking in the last 43 months, and Li Shifeng has entered the top 10 of the world ranking list for the first time.
Previously, the last time the national men's singles occupied 2 places in the top ten of the world ranking list was dated to October 12, 2021, when Chen Long and Shi Yuqi ranked 6th and 10th respectively. Later, Shi Yuqi was affected by the ban, his ranking continued to decline, and Chen Long was in a state of fading, until last week, there was no more than one player in the men's singles of Guoyu who made it to the top ten at the same time.
Over the years, men's singles has been a traditional strength of Guoyu, with more than 10 players on the podium of the men's singles champions at the Olympic Games, World Championships and World Cup. How powerful the men's singles are, let's give three examples: First, three of the two generations of "Four Heavenly Kings" in the international badminton arena are from Guoyu, they are Yang Yang and Zhao Jianhua in the "Four Heavenly Kings" in the 80s and Lin Dan in the "Four Heavenly Kings" at the beginning of the new century. Second, the men's singles of the Beijing and London Olympic Games had three players participating in the men's singles, and the conditions for achieving full participation at that time were very harsh, and the Olympic points ranking of the three participants must be in the top four. Strong individual and team strength, the national badminton men's singles actually achieved this miracle twice in a row, Lin Dan and Chen Jin won the championship and third place in the Beijing Olympics, and Lin Dan and Chen Long won the championship and third place in the London Olympics. Third, from 2006 to 2016, 3 Olympic Games and 8 World Championships were held, and the national badminton men's singles won 11 consecutive championships.
With Lin Dan and Chen Long passing their peaks, coupled with the rise of good players from Denmark, Japan and other countries, the national badminton singles has not won the Olympic or World Championships since 2017, and the world ranking is no longer in the lead. Several impacts, the national badminton men's singles regained its glory at this year's All England Open, and Li Shifeng and Shi Yuqi met in the final of the "Century-old Store". Taking advantage of this east wind, their world ranking rose significantly, and in March, Shi Yuqi re-entered the top ten of the world ranking list, and rookie Li Shifeng was close to the top ten.
At last week's Singapore Open, Shi Yuqi and Li Shifeng both reached the quarterfinals, and although they failed to qualify for the semifinals, with the foundation laid in the recent period, their world rankings rose from 9th and 11th last week to 6th and 10th respectively this week, 6th is Shi Yuqi's highest personal ranking since November 12, 2019, and Li Shifeng is the first time in the world's top ten.
Shi Yuqi's world ranking rebounded, and Li Shifeng's world ranking rose rapidly, which is a boon for the men's singles of the national badminton who are rushing to the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. Of course, the overall strength of the current national badminton men's singles is not the same as the peak, and the recent 3 international competitions held only Weng Hongyang 1 person broke into the final four of one station is proof that when the national men's singles will return to the golden period of that year, it requires the joint efforts of the active national players. (Wang Quanli)