After returning to the top of the Olympic standings in May, the IELTS combination status has recovered, and Paris has a gold rush!
In the early morning of October 27, Beijing time, the 2023 French Open ended the 1/4 final of each event, and China's Zheng Siwei/Huang Yaqiong defeated Japan's Yuki Kaneko/Matsutomo Misaki 2:0 to win a place in the quarterfinals. This means that the "IELTS combination" has at least 88,496 Olympic points after the French Open, thus surpassing teammate Feng Yanzhe / Huang Dongping to the top of the mixed doubles rankings table, returning to the top of the Olympic standings after five months.
The badminton Olympic points tournament began in May this year and lasted for one year. The Sudirman Cup in May was the first points tournament, and Zheng Siwei/Huang Yaqiong scored 12,706 points, temporarily topping the mixed doubles rankings. After the Su Cup, the IELTS team missed two races and lost their leading spot at the end of the month, falling to five or six places in the rankings for a time. Thailand's Debochai/Shali and China's Feng Yanzhe/Huang Dongping have led the mixed doubles Olympic standings, and in recent editions have been the "Phoenix Duo" at the top of the table.
In recent days, with a relatively stable performance, Zheng Siwei/Huang Yaping has gradually risen in the Olympic points ranking, especially the recent championship and runner-up in the Asian Games and the Danish Open, and their points have risen to 82,446 points, ranking second after Feng Yanzhe/Huang Dongping (83,452 points). Although they lead in points, Zheng Siwei/Huang Yaqiong have a certain advantage over other combinations, and last week's Danish Open was their ninth Olympic points tournament, which means that their points gain at the French Open is still a net increase in points, while the first-class combination including Feng Yanzhe/Huang Dongping, Watanabe Yudai/Higashino Yusa, Seo Seungjae/Choi Yoo-hyun has reached at least 10 stops, and even if they win the French race, it will not be as obvious as the "IELTS combination" score increase.
After the French Open, Feng Yanzhe / Huang Dongping broke in the first round, and their Olympic points have not risen by one point next week, still 83,452 points. Zheng Siwei/Huang Yaqiong reached the quarterfinals of the French station, which earned at least 6,050 points, and next week's Olympic points will rise to 88,496 points, destined to surpass the "phoenix combination". Currently in third place, Watanabe Yudai/Higashino Yusa Ru won the French championship, next week's Olympic points will reach 87,351 points, still ranked behind the "IELTS combination", other combinations will not exceed 80,000 points, which means that Zheng Siwei/Huang Yaqiong will return to the top of the Olympic standings after 5 months.
With the strength of Zheng Siwei/Huang Yaqiong and the continued stability of the Olympic points competition, they are likely to maintain their lead to the end in the next six months, thus securing an Olympic spot as the first place in the Olympic points competition. The first Olympic points ranking means that the Zheng Si combination will get an ideal Olympic signing at that time, laying a solid foundation for the Olympic championship in Paris.
(Wang Quanli)