China's badminton world is sluggish, and Li Yongbo picks up the burden
In the nineties of the last century, Chinese badminton faced an unprecedented predicament, the national team has repeatedly lost in the international arena, and it has not won any major championships for a long time.
Watching the players defeat again and again, Li Yongbo's heart was full of grief and anxiety.
In 1992, Li Yongbo was appointed as the head coach of the national team, and this heavy burden fell on his shoulders. At first, Li Yongbo was also skeptical about whether he could turn things around.
But soon, he straightened his back, and his eyes shone with determination.
Li Yongbo understands that in order to achieve the take-off of Chinese badminton, it is necessary to solve the problem fundamentally. As a result, he undertook an unprecedented overhaul of young players from provincial teams and clubs around the country.
After layers of screening, Li Yongbo finally selected 50 young players to form a new team.
This group of team members from all over the world gathered together, and Li Yongbo looked at their young faces, and hope rose in his heart. He is well aware of the great responsibility on his shoulders, and he must cultivate these pink carvings into towering trees.
Lee Yongbo is determined to produce 100 world champions for his country within 10 years. This ambitious goal has caused a lot of discussion in the outside world, but Li Yongbo did not pay attention to these doubts.
He is just more strict with himself, because he understands that the heavy responsibility of reviving the Chinese badminton world is on his shoulders.
Rigorous training to make a difference
After Li Yongbo became the head coach of the national team, he immediately set out to formulate a new and extremely strict training system. He knows that in order to create a world champion, it is not enough to simply work hard, but to establish a scientific and systematic training method.
Each team member will receive special training in terms of physical fitness, skills, and psychology. Li Yongbo also hired senior psychologists from abroad to help the team members overcome pressure and enhance self-confidence.
His training is extremely rigorous, even requiring his players to break the routine and push their physical performance to the limit. The players were drenched in sweat during training and often felt exhausted.
But Li Yongbo's encouragement and demands kept them going.
In 1995, the Chinese team defeated the Indonesian team in the final of the Thomas Cup and finally regained the team championship. When the final whistle blew, Li Yongbo excitedly ran to the stadium and hugged the players.
Standing on the podium, Li Yongbo had tears in his eyes, and 14 years of desolation finally ushered in the dawn.
A year later, at the Atlanta Olympics, the Chinese team defeated the Japanese pair in the women's doubles final and won the first gold medal for Chinese badminton in history.
The team that made this historic breakthrough was forged under Li Yongbo's strict requirements.
Seeing the team members win consecutive championships in the international arena, Li Yongbo was sincerely gratified. The promises he made years ago that many people scoffed at are becoming reality.
This also strengthened Li Yongbo's determination to push Chinese badminton to glory.
Public opinion is in turmoil, and morality is questioned
After more than 10 years, the Chinese badminton team has become a strong team in the world under the leadership of Li Yongbo. But the good times did not last long, and at the 2012 London Olympics, a storm suddenly broke out, and Li Yongbo was also controversial.
In order to ensure that both Chinese pairs would reach the semi-finals of the Women's Doubles, Li Yongbo made the difficult decision to adopt a handicap strategy. This is not uncommon in the sports arena, but it can be extremely risky to execute.
To Li Yongbo's surprise, the Chinese team actually met the South Korean team, and the South Korean team also made the same arrangement. The handicap by both teams was ultimately deemed unsportsmanlike by the referee and both teams were disqualified.
As soon as the handicap turmoil came out, the Chinese team and Li Yongbo immediately became the target of public criticism. The sportsmanship he has emphasized over the years is completely at odds with this treatment, and the outside world has criticized him in waves and waves.
Li Yongbo was caught in an unprecedented storm of public opinion, and his face was full of exhaustion and pain.
What makes Li Yongbo even more sad is that this turmoil seems to have opened some kind of Pandora's box, and all kinds of negative rumors about him have also been dug up and made public. Li Yongbo felt unprecedented pain and helplessness, and he sat in the corner, his face full of haggardness.
The once glorious head coach of the national team, but now there is such a big scandal, Li Yongbo's heart is like ashes.
Retire and plant durian
After the turmoil, Li Yongbo's mental state became increasingly depressed. After a busy life, he also felt tired and longed for a stable life. In 2017, Li Yongbo finally relieved himself of the burden of being the head coach of the national team, officially retired from the firing line, and left the badminton circle that worried him.
After retirement, Li Yongbo did not choose to enjoy his old age in his homeland, but went to the Southeast Asian country of Malaysia and began a retirement life that had nothing to do with badminton.
He rented 200 acres of land and began to grow his favorite fruit, durian.
At first, Li Yongbo didn't know anything about how to grow durian, so he worked tirelessly, consulted the locals, and learned all aspects of Xi. Slowly, he figured out planting techniques such as variety selection, sowing, watering, fertilizing, etc., and found the most suitable varieties for cultivation.
In the orchard, Li Yongbo took off his identity as a coach and referee, just an ordinary fruit farmer. He often set up a hammock and quietly watched the trees grow, with a serene look in his eyes.
Finally, after careful care, the first batch of durians ripened, and Li Yongbo picked the fragrant fruits and tasted the sweetness of labor.
Later, Li Yongbo managed the orchard well, established his own export brand, and continued to expand the planting area. Now he lives a prosperous and comfortable life, and he has also found the joy of retirement.
Inherit the cause and pursue the dream
Although Li Yongbo retired from professional badminton, his passion and dedication to the sport have never waned. Even though he is far away from home, he still decided to carry on his career and continue to ignite the love of badminton among more young people.
Lee founded a non-profit junior badminton club in Malaysia that specializes in identifying and training talented young players. Every weekend, he personally goes to the club to guide the children in training.
A group of lively children circled around Li Yongbo, their eyes full of adoration.
The children's skills have improved rapidly under Li Yongbo's careful training. Sometimes the children hit a beautiful return ball, and Li Yongbo would applaud happily, his face filled with fatherly joy.
On the side of the badminton court, there were childish voices and children's crisp laughter.
Li Yongbo found that teaching children brought him a whole new kind of joy. There's no pressure to have an Olympic medal, just a lot of fun with the kids. The enthusiastic children also made Li Yongbo feel the spiritual satisfaction that he had not seen for a long time.
From Atlanta to London, Li Yongbo has written a page of Chinese badminton legends with his own efforts. He is no longer at the forefront, but by inspiring young players, his badminton dream continues.
Li Yongbo hopes that these children can have ideals in mind and become pillars of the country.
Treat it fairly, praise and dispraise
Looking back at Li Yongbo's life, we see not only glamorous victories, but also public opinion turmoil and controversy. As the founder of China's badminton world, Li Yongbo has won us countless honors, and he has led the Chinese team to achieve take-off from scratch.
However, his way of doing things and coaching methods have also encountered all kinds of criticism and doubts.
In the face of Li Yongbo, we should have a tolerant and rational attitude. As an ordinary person, he worked hard to win gold for the country; As a coach, he is strict and trains his players to become world champions; As an old man, he regained his ordinariness and chose to grow fruits...... In him, we see not only a successful person, but a flesh-and-blood, real and complete person.
Li Yongbo has made great contributions, but also has the mistakes of human nature. But no one person can be flawless. We should not look at a person's shortcomings and deny them altogether, which is too narrow-minded.
We need to learn to be tolerant and peaceful about the many facets and richness of one's life.
Li Yongbo has retired from the stage, but his spirit will always live on with us. We should not only cherish his legacy, but also learn from his lessons, and that is the attitude we should have.
Only in this way can we continue to promote the development of Chinese badminton with a broader vision.