On April 29, Beijing time, badminton Olympic champion Li Xuerui posted a photo of taking her daughter to the 2024 Tang You Cup to watch the game through social media, interacting with the star athletes of the Chinese badminton team, which aroused strong attention from netizens.
As can be seen from the photos, Li Xuerui's daughter was held in the arms of Shi Yuqi, Zheng Yu and many other active national players, and she was also sitting on the lap of the Olympic champion Fu Haifeng, who was also retired, happily gestured to victory.
In addition to the active national players on the entry list, the retired Chinese badminton team world champions including Chen Long, Wang Shixian and his wife, Li Xuerui, Fu Haifeng and other retired Chinese badminton team also went to the scene to cheer for the national badminton team, but also to teach the young athletes the experience of team competition, showing the heritage of Chinese badminton.
The Chinese badminton team lost both championships in the last Tang You Cup, and this time the home game to regain the Tang You Cup is undoubtedly the only goal. Especially for the men's team, which has missed out on the championship trophy for two consecutive Thomas Cups, the challenges and difficulties faced are even greater. After the election of the team, the captains of this year's Tang You Cup were Shi Yuqi and Jia Yifan.
There are quite a few major opponents in the Thomas Cup, such as defending champions India, a well-balanced Indonesian team, and Viktor Axelsen's Denmark team, as well as South Korea, which is good at playing team events, and Japan, who are good at playing team games. Compared with two years ago, the strength of the national feather is obviously stronger, Shi Yuqi's strong recovery, Leung Wei Keng/Wang Chang reached the top of the men's doubles world No. 1, and the lineup is neat and aimed for the championship.
The women's national team has fewer opponents than the men's team, mainly the defending champion South Korea and the well-balanced Japan team. However, the South Korean team and the Japanese team each have a main doubles player who is absent due to injury, and the impact on the lineup is not small. However, although the strength is superior, we must also be wary of the recurrence of the situation of being upset by the Korean team under the pressure of the last final.