The countdown to the opening of the Hangzhou Asian Games has begun. Recently, the official platform of the International Olympic Committee listed 8 star athletes worthy of attention in the Hangzhou Asian Games. Among them, two Chinese athletes made the list, Sun Yingsha in table tennis and Zhang Boheng in gymnastics.
The other six athletes are: Kunravut, the first person in the history of Thai badminton, Rikako Ikee, a Japanese swimming "female warrior", South Korean swimming rising star Hwang Sun-woo, Japanese skateboarder Hina Kusaki, Malaysian diving meritorious Panderella, Qatari high jump legend Barchim, and Indian javelin thrower Chopra.
The list was a source of heated discussion. Chinese netizens have something to say: "Diving is China's trump card project, how is the recommended character Penderella?" "Why isn't the swimming program Qin Haiyang or Zhang Yufei?"
Is this list convincing? Let's get to know these athletes.
Chinese women's table tennis leader Sun Yingsha.
Sun Yingsha, currently ranked number one in the world, is already a leader in Chinese women's table tennis and has almost locked up the qualification for the Paris Olympics. A cute baby face, but the masculine and tough playing style on the court also gives Sun Yingsha the nickname "Little Devil". At this Asian Games, she will compete in four events - women's singles, women's doubles, mixed doubles and women's team. At the last Asian Games in Jakarta, Sun Yingsha had only participated in international competitions for less than two years, and she won the championship in the mixed doubles and women's team competitions. At this Asian Games, Sun Yingsha and Wang Yidi jointly competed in the women's singles, aiming to win the women's singles championship.
A new generation of athlete Zhang Boheng.
Zhang Boheng is the traffic leader among the new generation of athletes. In the mouths of some fans, he is an idol athlete who "should be on a variety show if you wear a suit, and you should get a gold medal if you take off your suit". As early as the Tokyo Olympic cycle, he already occupied a place in the gymnastics national team, but was replaced by Lin Chaopan at the last moment and missed the Tokyo Olympics. At the 2021 World Gymnastics Championships, Zhang Boheng, who participated for the first time, won the men's individual all-around gold medal with 87.981 points. Last season, Zhang Boheng led the team to win the men's team championship of the World Gymnastics Championships, helping the Chinese team get the tickets for the Paris Olympics in advance. At this Asian Games, the showdown between Zhang Boheng and Japan's Daiki Hashimoto will be a major attraction.
Post-00s men's singles champion Kunravut.
Thailand's Kunravut won the title by defeating Koda Naraoka 2-1 in the men's singles final of the 2023 World Badminton Championships. This is the first World Championship men's singles champion in the history of badminton in Thailand, and Kunravut also became the first post-00s men's singles champion in the history of the World Championships. Reaching the final of two consecutive World Championships and winning a gold and a silver medal, Kun Ravut has broken the traditional pattern and demonstrated its potential to usher in a new era in badminton.
Rikako Ikee overcame the disease and returned.
Rikako Ikee made her Asian Games debut at the 2018 Asian Games at the age of 18, winning six gold and two silver medals, almost single-handedly helping Japan tie the total number of gold medals in swimming with China. Unfortunately, in 2019, she was diagnosed with leukemia, which led to a decline in her career. After nearly a year of treatment, Rikako Ikee overcame her illness and chose to return in 2021, qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics as a member of Japan's 4×100m medley relay team. Ikee then missed the 2022 season and returned earlier this year when she reached the 50m butterfly final at the World Championships. The Hangzhou Asian Games could be the starting point for Chijiang to regain his peak form.
South Korean swimmer Hwang Sun-woo is the favorite to win the title.
The 20-year-old Hwang Sun-woo has successfully won medals at two consecutive World Swimming Championships, a height that his predecessor Park Tae-huan has also failed to reach. Paying attention to Huang Sun-woo should be based on his potential. Because the swimming event of the Asian Games has been a pattern of competition between Chinese and Japanese teams for many years, after the outbreak of this year's Fukuoka World Championships, the Chinese swimming team is full of confidence. However, there is another force to be reckoned with in Asian swimming, from South Korea's men's middle and long distance freestyle complex. Represented by Hwang Sun-woo and Kim Woo-min, they maintain their leading positions in Asia in the men's 200m, 400m and 800m freestyle; At the same time, their men's 4×200m freestyle relay is also strong, and at the Fukuoka World Championships, the South Korean team finished sixth in 7:04.07, the best time in Asia. In the men's 100m freestyle event, Huang Shanyu is also one of the favorites to win this year's Hangzhou Asian Games.
15-year-old Japanese skateboarder Hina Kusaki is a junior high school student, one year younger than diver Quan Hongchan, and she is famous at a young age. Hina Kusaki has been skateboarding for 6 years, and she competed for the first time the year before. At the end of 2021, she won the Japan Championship. Last year, she won the Japan Open and defended her title at the Japan Championship. Currently, she is ranked third in the world. She said in an interview that she will win the championship at the Hangzhou Asian Games. At the same time, she will also participate in the World Championships in Rome, which will start on October 1, and strive to win the World Championships and successfully qualify for the Olympic Games.
Malaysian diver Panderella.
In diving, the Chinese team has the strength to crush the opponent. Malaysian diver Panderella finished third in the women's single 10m platform at the London Olympics; At the Rio Olympics, she partnered with Zhang Junhong to win the women's double 10m platform runner-up, demonstrating the competitiveness of Malaysian diving. At the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, Pandelella, then 17 years old, participated in the Asian Games for the first time. For divers, 30 years old is already "old age", and Pandelella can persist for so many years in the shadow of the diving "dream team", which should be the reason why she was recommended by the International Olympic Committee.
Barchim, the world's top high jumper.
Barchim is one of the best high jumpers in the world today, holding the Asian high jump record of 2.43 meters, which puts him almost on par with high jump legend Javier Sotomayor of Cuban, Javier Sotomayor, and his world record of 2.45 meters set in 1993. Barchim not only won gold medals in the high jump at the 2017 and 2019 World Championships, but also bronze at the 2012 London Olympics, silver at Rio 2016 and gold at Tokyo 2021, making history as one of the double Olympic high jump champions. At present, South Korea's Woo Sang-hyuk is Barhim's main rival, and this Asian Games may become a new "battlefield" for the two.
Indian athlete Chopra won this year's World Championships in Athletics with a javelin throw.
At the 2023 World Athletics Championships, Indian javelin thrower Chopra won 1 gold medal, which is the first track and field world championship in India's history. At the Tokyo 2021 Olympics, Chopra won India's first gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics with a second throw of 87.58 meters, which is also the first track and field gold medal in the history of the Indian Olympic Games. Chopra also became only the third athlete in men's javelin throw history to win both the World and Olympic titles. Winning glory for the country and becoming an example for the people, Chopra still maintains a normal heart and hopes to realize the dream of a gold medal at the Asian Games.
Editor-in-chief: Chen Hua Source: Xinhua News Agency
Source: Author: Qin Dongying