Youth is wonderful, and the "supernova" in the Zhengzhou National Games qualification tournament makes people feel the exuberant desire to fight of the new forces.
Among them, there are rising stars who have just arrived in the national team, there are youth troops who have emerged in the national training team, and there are sprinters who are lying on the provincial team. With the hot impact, they are not afraid of failure, they are not afraid of hardships, just like the new shoots that continue to climb upwards in the dirt, growing in the unformed wanton, shaping the contours and boundaries of the self.
For this group of newcomers who can be called "supernovae" from all dimensions, four years ago, they were still inconspicuous little points in the provincial team; four years later, they seemed to take on the main role of the teams in the preliminary round of the National Games to grab points and qualify.
With a lot of expectations for meritorious service and breakthrough, they have gone from the team competition to the individual event, and in the long course, there are both explosive explosions and enlightenment. They are like the warmest sunshine in summer, blooming with exuberant vitality. For them, the road they have traveled at this moment and the light they yearn for are all nourishment and testimony to growth.
Lei Lanxi: "Bitter Battle Nova" finally came to the top
If there is no epidemic, Lei Lanxi, born in 1998, should be in the critical growth period of fighting with the world's masters on the international stage and desperately drawing nourishment, and may have already proved herself through the championship like the 2019 Belarus International.
From the national first team to the training team
If there is no injury, perhaps the current name of Lei Lanxi is still a "member of the national first team", and he is following the team to prepare for the battle in Chengdu.
Lei Lanxi, who came to Zhengzhou as the "Captain of the National Training Team", had some Buddhist lineages and knew better how to taste courage on the back. Although he carefully answered every question in the mixed interview area with a smiling face every time, a weighty national championship men's singles gold medal proved that in the past six months, Lei Lanxi has not been depressed by the change of identity.
When the epidemic was raging last year, Lei Lanxi did not have many opportunities to compete until the Super League in September. At that time, the competition held in Chengdu used an 11-point, 5-innings, 3-win system, coincidentally, Lei Lanxi, who appeared on behalf of Shenzhen SUSTech, always forced five rounds with his opponents, and the title of "Lei Five Innings" spread instantly, and even more for Lei Lanxi, a more resounding name - "Five Thunders" boomed.
After the end of the year, the internal adjustment of the national team will determine the fate of everyone in the coming year. Unfortunately, Lei Lanxi, who was plagued by injuries, was not in good shape for more than a year, and his 11th place performance also forced him to be adjusted from the national first team to the national training team.
Although it is still a national team, it is an obvious demotion, and anyone will have some ideas, and Lei Lanxi is naturally no exception. When he first participated in the training camp, Lei Lanxi's mentality still fluctuated. However, looking at the members of the team who were younger than themselves still tearful and sweaty, plus the national training team was appointed as the captain during the Jinjiang training, age and sense of responsibility did not allow Lei Lanxi to continue to be passive in training and life. Slowly, he gradually transformed the sense of gap into a sense of urgency. He gave himself a positive psychological cue: the injury affected the performance at that time, and I had to prove myself. After a few months of lying down, Zhengzhou is the stage where the supernova proves himself.
From "Ray Three Rounds" to "Ray Champion"
Lei Lanxi, who came to Zhengzhou, became the guarantee for Guangdong team to get points in the team competition, winning 2-0 in all three group matches, and Guangdong team qualified for the final stage of the National Games without any suspense. But after the individual event, the test for Lei Lanxi really began, however, the problem of "Lei three innings" began to be committed again.
In the individual event, qualifying for the final stage of the National Games is naturally not too difficult for Lei Lanxi, but being able to beat well-known players such as Liu Haichao, Liu Liang, Zhang Weiyi, Li Shifeng and Sun Feixiang in one competition at the same time shows that his sweat has not flowed in vain in the past few months.
In the matchup with these well-known players, Lei Lanxi only won 2-0 in the matchup with Zhang Weiyi, and the other four games were equally matched to the decider. Especially in the semi-finals with Li Shifeng, the process was quite tragic, and when the battle reached the decider, Lei Lanxi faced a desperate situation of 18-20 behind. At this time, he showed a strong psychological quality after several months of lying down, scoring 4 points in a row to reverse the victory.
The "Thunder Three Rounds", which has been holding back a lot of energy to prove themselves, finally got what he wanted in Zhengzhou.
"I'll just say, I've never been interviewed when I've won two games, and you always come to interview me every time I play three innings." After each difficult promotion, Lei Lanxi always did not forget to "complain" with the reporters.
In fact, this experience also made Lei Lanxi have a more different understanding of himself and found a way to resist pressure. After entering the individual event, every time he saw Lei Lanxi, he did not forget to "poison his tongue" himself, "Tomorrow I should go home." "Whenever he thought it was time to go home, he successfully fought back against the Jedi again and again on the field.
What happened could not be changed, so it was better to adapt to it as soon as possible, as Lei Lanxi did. Lei Lanxi, who is in such a state of explosion, may not be too far from returning to the international arena to cut through thorns.
Dong Tianyao: "Fearless Rising Star" has broad prospects
If I had to give this 18-year-old child a title, I could only crown him with "fearlessness", which was very close to Dong Tianyao's motivation not to be afraid of anything.
Weight loss is reduced to 1.90 meters
Among the new stars on the cover of this issue, Dong Tianyao will definitely feel strange to readers, but he is also the person who most appropriately uses the word "new star". Dong Tianyao, born in 2003, is only 18 years old this year, a native of Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province, who began to learn badminton in Xuzhou at the age of 5, and came to Wuxi at the age of 6 to learn ball with the famous coach Chen Yuping.
Dong Tianyao was fat and short when he was a child, the results were average, the coach let him work hard to lose weight, Dong Tianyao's father really "under the heart", for a period of time did not give his son to eat staple food. This way is really effective, the thin Dong Tianyao actually began to grow, and he could not hold back, and now without shoes has reached 1.90 meters. In the national team, there are still several doubles players who exceed 1.90 meters such as Feng Yanzhe and Liu Yuchen, but it is really rare for singles players to exceed 1.90 meters.
At the age of 14, Dong Tianyao came to the Anhui team, and one of the Indonesian foreign teachers in the team carefully arrested him for training. In just two years, Dong Tianyao's technical characteristics began to take shape, and the number of championships won in the competition began to increase, and finally knocked on the door of the national junior team and the national youth team.
The "seed killer" wins in fearlessness
With outstanding height and mentioned by the Indonesian coach, Dong Tianyao's playing style is very distinctive, especially in attack, speed change, starting and other aspects. In last year's Yu Super League, Dong Tianyao played for Anhui Soyu, although he did not win four times, he got a round from Chen Long and Huang Yuxiang respectively, which is already a great encouragement for him. Even Chen Long specifically mentioned after the game that Dong Tianyao's playing style is very special, and there will be a lot of room for improvement in the future.
Dong Tianyao's style of play is fearless, facing a famous player or an opponent who fights for the first time, he never fears the stage, and often encourages himself with an imposing shout. After playing with Chen Long in the Yu Super League, Dong Tianyao also took the initiative to ask Chen Long how to solve the problem of the center of gravity.
In the summer of 2019, Dong Tianyao participated in the Asian Youth Championships held in Suzhou at the age of 16, which was not only his first Asian Youth Championship, but also his first international competition. The draw was not friendly to Dong Tianyao, whose opponent in the first round was the No. 2 seed from Indonesia. Unexpectedly, through a shout and a heavy kill, he actually won his first international competition with a 2-1 victory over the strong player. At that year's World Youth Championship, he once again defeated the seeded players in the first round and was called the "seed killer" by his teammates.
Four years ago, Dong Tianyao had no concept of the National Games, not even watching the game; this year, he was already the main scorer of the Anhui men's team. He played twice in the team stage, both times reversing the victory. Against Guangxi Erdan Wei Gaowang, he even scored six consecutive points in the dangerous situation of falling behind 16-20 in the decider. If such a performance is not experienced, it can only be fearless.
Although the possibility of hosting this year's World Youth Championship is still doubtful, Dong Tianyao is still moving forward at a rapid pace in the youth team. As the oldest member of the youth team, Dong Tianyao began to feel the impact from the younger players, and his choice was still to charge fearlessly.
Zhang Weiyi: "Internet celebrity rising star" realizes the dream of the national games
Three years ago, Zhang Weiyi let us know him through the national championship. This time, his persistence made his dream come true, and he could finally advance to the final stage of the National Games with his head held high, so that the new star who was popular because of Douyin shone again.
Unforgettable after the failure
Zhang Weiyi, 6, chose to give up playing with his friends of the same age, and waved at his brother in the park on the badminton court drawn by his father with chalk. However, no one in the family has ever dealt with badminton, and Zhang Weiyi's wish to practice badminton cannot be realized. After several turns, Zhang Weiyi was brought to Beijing by his father from Inner Mongolia and became a "North Drifter." After a year in Beijing, Zhang Weiyi, who had no technical roots, had to change his court, and the Liaoning team became the next stop to accept him.
Zhang Weiyi, who left his hometown a thousand kilometers away and did not want to disappoint his family, continued to work hard and walked farther and farther on the badminton road. From the youth team to the provincial team, watching teammate Li Shifeng from the youth team to the national team, Zhang Weiyi, who returned to the provincial team, did not give up, but silently continued to work until he came to the national games qualification tournament.
The 2017 Tianjin National Games qualifiers became the first big test of Zhang Weiyi's life, when he was just a men's singles rookie in Liaoning. He wasn't tall enough, he wasn't fast, but he killed all the way to the last round. However, in the last match against Wu Xin of the Bayi team, Zhang Weiyi, who was leading by a large score, was tragically reversed and missed the final stage of the National Games.
After losing the game, Zhang Weiyi once stuffed himself in the room, thinking hard about the fragments on the field, carefully thinking about whether this ball should be played so much, where to be more stable. Zhang Weiyi said that he likes the feeling of failure, because only pain can make him understand the meaning of "unforgettable".
The leaps and bounds after the influencers
After losing, Zhang Weiyi buried himself in the training hall every day, and he did not expect that he would start to be recognized not because of his performance on the field, but in Douyin.
Zhang Weiyi began to play Douyin in 2018, linking badminton with fun videos, and conquering fans with his own skills and fun, and the number of fans changed from 0 to 100,000. However, the TikTok celebrity disappeared for a full month in August 2018. It turned out that "net red" Zhang Weiyi "took the time" to play a national championship, and "accidentally" won consecutive victories over Weng Hongyang and Bai Yupeng, and "by the way" won the men's singles championship of the competition.
Zhang Weiyi said: "In fact, I still mind the so-called 'internet celebrity' gimmick, but if I do, I can't change anything, and I prefer to prove myself with the identity of an athlete." ”
In this year's National Games qualifying round, Zhang Weiyi easily won two consecutive victories and came to the final stage of the qualification again, against Chen Jinlin of Guangdong team. Before the game, Zhang Weiyi thought a lot, including difficulties, technical tactics, etc., but it may be too much to make his mentality fluctuate, and after winning the first set 21-14, he lost 17-21 in the second set.
"There were really a moment or two in the game that reminded me of four years ago, when I really wanted to step on the floor of the final stage of the National Games." Eager to prove himself, but also eager to get back up in the place of failure, in the decider, Zhang Weiyi chose to persevere to the end and move forward courageously, and the score of 21-12 was the best proof.
When the badminton ball finally landed, Zhang Weiyi felt relieved, and this pressure did not come from family, friends or coaches, but a thorn that was deeply rooted in the body four years ago, and finally pulled out. Getting tickets for the final stage of the National Games is just a small cheer for Zhang Weiyi, who is only 21 years old, on the road to success. In his mind, the tuning at the end of 2020 is the motivation for him to continue. When deciding whether to win the 5 or 6 places in the national first team, Zhang Weiyi was defeated by Lu Guangzu (the first five remained in the national first team) and could only go to the national training team.
If there is any regret, there must be. "I feel very sorry and regretful, entering the national first team is my dream and goal of my career over the years. After the effort, there is always a little bit of difference, which means that the effort is not enough, and there is no other choice but to persevere to the end. ”
Wen / Yan Jia, Mai Yan, Chen Qiao
Photo: Tang Shi, Yan Jia, Mai Yan