Zhou Tiancheng returned from illness Photo courtesy of the organizing committee
Reporter Liu Ruiping sent from Ningbo on April 11In Ningbo in April, the Asian Badminton Championships are in full swing. Although it is an intercontinental competition, because it is a matter of Olympic qualification, all the top players in Asian badminton gather here to do their best to compete for Olympic qualification.
According to the rules, the Olympic points ranking ends at the end of April, but because there are only a few lower-level competitions after that, the points for athletes who qualify for the Olympics are equivalent to the Asian Championships at the Super 1000 level, which is the final points race.
After this battle, who can participate in the Olympic Games is basically determined, and the suspense of whether the Chinese team can participate in the competition will also be revealed.
After more than a year of hard work, it will eventually wait for the end, whether it is successful or broken, it is the voice of dreams.
After returning from fighting cancer, Zhou Tiancheng knows how to cherish it more
In the first match of the Asian Championships, Chinese Taipei's Chou Tien Cheng faced China's Weng Hongyang. After losing 16:21 in the first game, Chinese player Weng Hongyang chose to retire due to a back injury, and Zhou Tiancheng successfully advanced.
As a former king-level player, Zhou Tiancheng has not appeared in the eyes of fans like this for a long time.
Since March last year, Chou Tien Cheng's results have been declining, and he has not been seen in many tournaments, and even when he participates, he is often ranked outside the round of 16, until February this year, when Zhou Tien Cheng revealed to the outside world after winning the Thailand Masters that he had rectal cancer surgery last year.
It turned out that in April last year, Zhou Tiancheng was diagnosed with rectal cancer, and then underwent surgery, in order to chase the Olympic dream, he soon began to participate in competitions, despite the poor results, the points have been there, there is hope.
Although it was a minor operation, due to the large intestine being affected, I could only eat lightly, and the nutrition could not keep up, and the training was difficult to guarantee, because I was worried that I would lose concentration and make mistakes during the game.
"I didn't make it public because I didn't want to make excuses for myself. Zhou Tiancheng said, "My body is still recovering, so I will participate in more competitions in the first half of the year, actively mobilize myself, and make myself better and better." ”
According to the rules, by the end of April, the top 16 players in the singles world rankings and the top eight in the doubles world (with a maximum of two spots in an association) will qualify for the Paris Olympics.
After Thailand's victory, Chou Tien Seng was runner-up at the Swiss Open and the Spanish Masters reached the semi-finals, and is currently ranked 15th in the world, so the Olympic qualification is a foregone conclusion, but he wants to go further: "I want to play well in the Asian Championships and try to be seeded. ”
Although it is very difficult, Zhou Tiancheng enjoys his current state: "Fortunately, I found it early and had surgery in time, otherwise everyone might not have seen me on the field." I cherish every game now and I hope that I can fight for my opponent in every game. ”
On April 11, Chou Tien Cheng lost 0-2 to Malaysia's Lee Zi Jia, stopping in the round of 16, and if he wants to become an Olympic seed, he will have to endure the constant impact of young people.
"I love this stage, it's a beautiful thing for everyone to chase together. Zhou Tiancheng said.
For Zhou Tiancheng, dreams are the sound of chasing.
(Okuhara hopes to hide the loss)
Hope was shattered, and Okuhara wanted to cry bitterly
Facing the world's No. 1 An Seying, Japanese veteran Okuhara hoped to fight hard for 90 minutes, and finally lost 1:2 due to physical exhaustion, which also means that the 29-year-old veteran finally missed Paris.
Speaking of Okuhara Hope, he is also an old opponent of the Chinese team. At Rio 2016, the 21-year-old won the bronze medal, and at the 2017 World Championships, Okuhara won Japan's first women's singles title and again in 2020, and she is also the most decorated female player in the world.
But the world champion, who is only 1.55m tall, has been plagued by injuries and has had surgery on both of her knees, which she has been doing for her Olympic dreams. In 2021, Okuhara hopes to lose to China's He Bingjiao at the Tokyo Olympics and stop in the quarterfinals.
At the Paris Olympics, Okuhara was eager to compete for the third time, but at the national championships at the end of last year, Okuhara strained his thigh and missed the Malaysia Open in early January this year, which is a Super 1,000 level event with 12,000 points.
In contrast, Nozomi Okuhara has fallen to 26th in the world ranking on January 16.
To qualify for the Olympics, she must be ranked in the top 16 in the world and the top two in the association, ahead of her Akane Yamaguchi and Aya Ohori.
Nozomi Okuhara has since reached the final of the Indonesia Masters and the semi-finals of the Swiss Open to move up to No. 17, and if he has a good record at the Asian Championships, he could surpass No. 13-ranked Aya Ohori and secure an Olympic ticket.
It's a pity that Okuhara Nozomi met An Seying, who was 7 years younger than him, in the first round, and the two fought three games, and Okuhara lost 15:21, 21:18, and 17:21, completely ruining the Olympic dream.
"My legs felt like they couldn't move anymore and I kept encouraging myself and telling myself not to stop. It's been a long comeback, and I had a great fight with Ahn Se Ying, and although I lost, I played my full strength, and I believe this fight will be a good memory for me. After the game, Okuhara wanted to cry bitterly and couldn't calm down for a long time.
"She's a legend and she's doing really well. After the match, Ahn Se-ying praised Okuhara Nozomi, "I was a little sad to see her crying, she is really a great athlete." ”
It is said that Okuhara is very fond of drinking, and was once denied the opportunity to represent Japan at the World Championships because of drinking in a crowd. After dreaming of Paris, I don't know if she will drink again, but it is easy to remind people of a poem by Kitajima:
Nowadays we drink late at night,
The cups touch together,
It's all the sound of broken dreams.
(Tuou combination thrilling landing)
Thrilling, the Tuou combination went ashore as they wished
Before the start of the Asian Championships, the only thing that the Chinese team did not confirm to get the full quota of the Olympic Games was the men's doubles, an important reason is that the two Chinese pairs have too many ups and downs in the game, and they must always be afraid to watch their games.
Leung Wei Keng/Wang Chang's "Liang Wang Combination" is okay, ranking in the top three early and winning a ticket, while Liu Yuchen/Ou Xuanyi's "Tuou Combination" has always been famous for its ups and downs.
After the disintegration of Liu Yuchen/Li Junhui's twin towers, the Tuou combination began to emerge, their classics, when the Sudirman Cup mixed team semifinals in May last year, when the Chinese team fell behind Japan 1:2, the Tuou combination was ordered to play in the men's doubles, the first two games were drawn, and the third game was 16:20 behind the situation to win 6 points in a row, the big score was equalized, the Chinese team passed the thrilling test and finally won the cup, the Tuou combination became famous.
Prior to the Asian Championships, Tuou was ranked eighth, followed by Indonesia, with a difference of less than 700 points, and for a high-scoring event like the Asian Championships, a single match could turn the tide of the game.
The Tuou pair played a thrilling game again, in the first round against India's Arjun/Kapila, won the first game 23:21, lost the second game 19:21, and once led by a large score in the third game, was tied by the opponent, and after saving 4 match points in a row, the Tuou combination narrowly won 26:24, which took 75 minutes.
Luckily, Indonesia's Fikri/Maulana lost in an upset and were unable to catch up, with 10th-placed Chinese Taipei's Li Yang/Wang Chi-lin separating them by 1,600 points, and unless their opponents win the title, Tuou has already secured a ticket to the Olympics.
"We all made a lot of mistakes and we got the last bite. In the end, everyone is playing on the serve, and we just hit the ball in first. After the thrill, the pair of "heartbeat partners" were afraid: "It's terrible to always make such mistakes." ”
Fortunately, the Tuou pair advanced as they wished, and defeated the South Korean player on April 11 to break into the quarterfinals, and Liu Yuchen can continue to pursue his Olympic dream.
Dreams, perhaps, are the sound of their heartbeats.
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