Unfortunately, in the semi-finals of the women's epee team at the Tokyo Olympics at noon on July 27, Sun Yiwen, the captain of the Chinese women's epee and who had just won the women's epee individual gold medal, sprained during the competition and had to retire. After that, Xu Anqi, who came on as a substitute, failed to quickly enter the game state, and the overall morale of the Chinese team suffered a serious blow, and finally lost to the South Korean team by a score of 29-38, missing the championship and runner-up finals.
In the third and fourth finals in the evening, Sun Yiwen continued to be absent, and although the other three members of the Chinese women's epee team, Lin Sheng, Zhu Mingye and Xu Anqi, tried their best, they still lost to the Italian team 21-23 and failed to win a medal.
Sun Yiwen was injured and received treatment according to IC photo
Looking back at previous Olympic Games, the women's epee has always been an important gold medal for the Chinese fencing team. At the 2000 Sydney Olympics, the Chinese women's epee team led by Li Na won the team bronze medal; at the 2012 London Olympic Games, Sun Yujie, Li Na and Xu Anqi worked together to create history, winning the gold medal in the women's epee team, and Sun Yujie won the individual bronze medal; at the 2016 Rio Olympics, Sun Yiwen won the women's epee individual bronze medal and won the team silver medal side by side with his teammates.
At the Tokyo Olympics, the first gold medal of the Chinese fencing team was won by the women's epee event. The women's epee individual competition began on the first match day after the opening ceremony, and the Chinese women's epee team, which was fully participated, sent Sun Yiwen, Lin Sheng, and Zhu Mingye, which were the three main players of the team to compete in the team competition, and finally Sun Yiwen won the gold medal in the final victory over his old rival Popescu, which also gave the team a strong shot in the team competition.
"One sister" Sun Yiwen had no choice but to retire
After the Rio Olympics, as Sun Yujie faded from the national team, Sun Yiwen became the leader of the Chinese women's epee team. The young players around him have changed one after another, and Sun Yiwen has always been the number one main force, leading the team to win gold and silver in the World Championships, Asian Games and other venues. At first, Sun Yiwen was also very uncomfortable, after all, she only debuted on the Olympic stage in 2016, and this role change was too sudden, but she did not retreat, but gritted her teeth and carried the burden on her shoulders.
In the competition of the top 32 of the individual competition, all 3 people easily advanced; in the 16-in-8 competition, Lin Sheng was eliminated by the Italian players, Sun Yiwen and Zhu Mingye directly encountered, and finally Sun Yiwen advanced and became the "only seedling" of the Chinese team; in the 1/4 final, Sun Yiwen killed the Italian player who had previously eliminated Lin Sheng 11-10; in the semifinals, Sun Yiwen, who was more and more courageous, defeated a player from the Russian Olympic Committee team and entered the final. Sun Yiwen's opponent in the final is Romanian star Popescu, and there is a difficult fate between the two.
Sun Yiwen celebrates his individual championship with his coach according to IC photo
In the 2016 Rio Olympics women's epee team final, the Chinese women's epee team composed of Sun Yiwen, Sun Yujie and Xu Anqi was defeated by the Romanian team led by Popescu, watching the opponent stand on the highest podium; in the 2019 Military Games, Sun Yiwen won the women's epee individual championship, and the final opponent was also Popescu. Now that he has encountered it again in the final of the World Series, Sun Yiwen has not been soft at all. At the decisive moment of the gold medal match, the two sides fought 10-10, and Sun Yiwen sealed his throat with a sword, allowing the five-star red flag to shine on the Tokyo Olympic Games. It was also the first Olympic individual gold medal in The Chinese women's epee event.
In today's women's epee team semifinals, Sun Yiwen suddenly sprained in the second set and could not hold on to the game. Through a long period of exchange and communication confirmation, substitute Xu Anqi appeared on the scene and replaced Sun Yiwen. But Xu Anqi, who came on as a temporary substitute, has not yet found his form, and the Chinese team eventually lost to the South Korean team. According to the Olympic substitution rules, Sun Yiwen could not play in the bronze medal match. According to the latest news, Sun Yiwen was applied to ice after his injury, and the injury was not serious and would not affect the future training competition. Talking about the injury, Sun Yiwen said: "I am very good, and it is good that my leg is not broken. ”
And to this step, Sun Yiwen has been very difficult. Because just before she went to the Tokyo Olympics, she received a critical illness notice from her father, who was suffering from cancer. At the post-match press conference that won the women's epee individual gold medal, Sun Yiwen burst into tears when talking about his seriously ill father.
Lin Sheng
At one point, he considered retiring and was recalled by a foreign coach
Unlike other teammates, the 27-year-old Lin Sheng practiced the foil when he entered the Fuzhou Sports School, and only changed to epee after entering the Fujian provincial team. Liu Yumei, coach of the Fuzhou Fencing Team, still remembers the scene of Lin Sheng's selection at school in 2004, "Lin Sheng is left-handed, lively and outgoing, and quite personal, and we all think she is a good seedling." ”
Lin Sheng was not very old when he entered the national team, and he was a key player in the team. However, due to her failure to participate in the Rio Olympics, the results of the 2017 National Games were not ideal, and she once withdrew.
Lin Sheng's picture according to IC photo
At this time, she received a call from the French head coach of the national epee team, Yuge Oberley. Lin Sheng recalled, "He said that after watching my game, he thought I was a warrior, liked my style, and thought I could achieve good results. He talked to me many times, and each time he was awakening my love and desire for fencing, I want to go, I want to go. ”
"I have persisted until now, just looking forward to witnessing the raising of the national flag at the Olympic Games!" Lin Sheng said.
Zhu Mingye
The big ones are waiting for the flowers to bloom
Zhu Mingye, 29, is participating in the Olympic Games for the first time, and she belongs to the kind of athlete who is a late bloomer. Zhu Mingye said that since entering the Olympic Village, even if he gets up at 6 o'clock in the morning or even earlier every day, he does not feel sleepy, because he is especially looking forward to the start of the tournament and enjoying the feeling of standing on the Olympic kendo.
Zhu Mingye Image according to IC photo
Zhu Mingye, who debuted on the Olympic stage for the first time, was inevitably nervous, so he was adjusting his mentality and reducing pressure for himself these two days. "I've been adjusting for the past two days, and when I used to play at the World Championships, that kind of pressure brought me a very bad negative impact, and I would think too much. I hope to adjust my mentality, not to think about my bad things, and to think more about beautiful things. ”
Xu Anqi
The elder regained his last attempt
Once again with the team to participate in the Olympic Games, veteran Xu Anqi is very excited, although she is a substitute team, she is ready to fight at any time. "Tired! It felt like the waist was about to break. Xu Anqi said.
After competing in the London and Rio Olympic Games, Xu Anqi helped the Chinese women's epee team win back a gold and a silver in the team competition. In 2017, Xu Anqi faded out of the competition after winning an individual gold medal at the Tianjin National Games. In the next four years, she only participated in one World Cup and the 2019 Hungarian World Championships, and once again experienced the taste of winning the highest podium with her teammates Sun Yiwen, Zhu Mingye and Lin Sheng.
Anqi Xu according to IC photo
"Go back and strengthen everything that should be strengthened, and finally make a final attempt at the Tokyo Olympics." Xu Anqi said that from London, Rio to Tokyo, the best aspect of her current situation is the mentality, "No matter what the game, take it seriously, play your own strengths, this is enough." ”
But no one expected that in the semifinals, Xu Anqi was temporarily sent to the court because of Sun Yiwen's injury, and she suddenly failed to find her form. In the end, the Chinese women's epee team did not win a medal, but as long as you have seen their efforts and efforts, you will not ask any more harsh demands on them.
Red Star News reporter Hu Minjuan
Edited by Ou Peng
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