In 1999, Pi Hongyan, who began practicing badminton at the age of 8, won the first championship since entering the national team in the U.S. Open Badminton Championships.
However, after returning from the United States, she not only did not get the championship treatment, but was also transferred back to the provincial team by the coach for a very ridiculous reason, buckled the hat that she was not suitable for the national team and had little future in her playing style.
In 2000, Pi Hongyan accepted the invitation of the Danish club, and then joined the French national team.
Why did such a talented and talented player choose to join France, and even compete for France in the 2008 Olympic Games?
Almost retired and joined France to dominate Europe
During the time when she was transferred back to the Sichuan team by the coach, Pi Hongyan trained day after day, but there was no field that allowed her to show her talents, and she could only participate in two games a year.
What she yearns for in her heart is always to play a bigger international arena and win championships for the national team, but she doesn't see any hope of returning to the national team.
The salary of 600 yuan per month also made her life difficult, and at the most difficult time, she even thought about giving up the badminton she had insisted on since she was 8 years old and retired.
Pi Hongyan is a hard-working, and extremely powerful player, once she retires, she can almost declare that there is no hope of a comeback, and at this moment, the appearance of a man changed her life.
After learning about Pi Hongyan's situation, he personally came to China from Denmark and sent an invitation to Pi Hongyan to join the Danish club league.
At that time, Pi Hongyan only wanted to play, there was almost no hope in China, she could only choose to accept, go abroad to find opportunities, in 2001, Pi Hongyan left China, flew to Denmark to start her new journey.
In the Danish club league, Pi Hongyan's outstanding performance has attracted attention, her name has gradually become known in Denmark, and even some national teams have sent invitations to her.
In the end, Pi Hongyan chose to join the French national team, and was reused, allowing her to represent the French team in the 2004 Athens Olympics.
A month before the start of the Olympic Games, Pi Hongyan finally got a French passport and qualified to represent the French team in the Olympic Games.
In the first round of the game, because of an ankle injury before the game, Pi Hongyan played abnormally, and finally lost to the Korean player by one point and stopped in the top 32.
Despite her defeat at the Olympics, her prowess has long been evident, and since 2003, she has won the French Open Badminton Championships three times in a row.
From 2005 to 2010, she won the women's singles championship of the French National Badminton Championships for six consecutive times, and even reached the second place in the world ranking in 2005.
Abandoned tragically
Pi Hongyan's talent may not be the best, but her ability to enter the national team at the age of 18 is the result of more sweat behind her back than most.
In 1997, in the training camp of the national team, Pi Hongyan successfully entered the national second team, but when she came to the national team, she found that her teammates here not only worked hard, but also had better talent than herself.
Even if Pi Hongyan is a star-like existence in the provincial team, but in the national team, it is not enough to see at all, and if you want to compete for the opportunity to play, you must show absolute strength.
The other team members train very hard, and she works harder than the others, in addition to the daily training goals, she always trains alone in her free time to hone her skills.
Her hard work and sweat on the training ground eventually earned her a place at the US Open and her first title since entering the national team.
When she came back from the United States, the coach not only did not cheer for her, but notified her to be transferred back to the Sichuan team.
The reason given by the coach is that she is only 1.64 meters tall, and Pi Hongyan's style of play will not have a future, and she is not suitable for the national team.
Later, Pi Hongyan chose to continue playing abroad, and since 2004, Pi Hongyan has won many championships in some open tournaments in the European Championships.
But in those years, she always stopped in the quarterfinals at the World Championships and other international stages, and in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Pi Hongyan lost to Zhang Ning of the Chinese team by one point.
In that year's Olympic Games, the Beijing Olympic flame was relayed in Paris, and Pi Hongyan was also one of the torchbearers, but she was just sitting in the car at that time and could not get out of the car to complete the distance, which was also a regret for her.
Until the 2012 London Olympics, Pi Hongyan lost to Ye Peiyan of Hong Kong, China, and it was also in this year that Pi Hongyan announced her retirement.
In her more than ten years of badminton career, Pi Hongyan has won and lost, and won more than a dozen gold medals.
The status quo
In the 2012 London Olympics, she was excluded from the top 8, and her body has been plagued by injuries for more than ten years, so she said that she had no goal at the time, just just enjoying the process.
But after really losing the game, Pi Hongyan still couldn't hide the sadness in her heart, it can be seen that she is still very reluctant to this stage, but she also knows that it is time to say goodbye.
After the game, Pi Hongyan said that she was about to retire, and that she would continue to complete her studies and plan to hold a wedding in the following year, but there would be no special wedding ceremony, maybe just a meal.
Pi Hongyan and her boyfriend met at a party in London's Olympic bid, and after the first chance meeting, the two often met by chance, and later she learned that these were deliberately made by her boyfriend.
Her boyfriend Nikola is also an athlete, and slowly, Pi Hongyan is also attracted to this man who is 1.9 meters tall, and he can feel the sincerity of the other party.
Because in the first few years, although Nicola had retired and served as the coach of the French national team in Marseille, Pi Hongyan was still participating in the competition at that time, so although he was engaged, he was not married.
Finally waited until she retired, the two finally got married, and Pi Hongyan still worked in the sports field after retiring, working in the local sports department.
The reason why Pi Hongyan was dismissed back then, the outside world has different opinions, but what the truth is, there is no way to know, it may be that she was really not suitable for the national team at that time, but maybe Pi Hongyan could not stand on the podium wearing the national flag, which is the biggest regret in her heart.