The four kings of the new king of badminton play
Lin Dan announced his bid farewell to the Chinese badminton team earlier this month, and all the "four kings" who had been in the badminton world have since retired. Prior to this, Li Zongwei, who was also one of the "Four Kings", had selected candidates who were expected to succeed. In today's men's badminton world, post-90s players occupy the top ranks, and a new generation of kings are accelerating their growth.
Other candidates for "New King"
Antonsen (Denmark)
Birthday: 1997/4/27
Current World Ranking: 3
Jonathan (Indonesia)
Birthday: 1997/9/15
Current World Ranking: 7
Li Zijia (Malaysia)
Birthday: March 3, 1998
Current World Ranking: 10
Momota Kento
The Olympic stage becomes the biggest test
Many masters hit Tao Tian Xiandou, this is the pattern of today's badminton men's singles. After defending the World Championships last year, the Japanese media asserted that Momota will be the next legend after Lin Li.
In 2019, Tao Tian won 11 championships in a single season, surpassing Li Zongwei's record of 10 championships a year and becoming the first person in active service. However, compared with Lin Dan's 20 world championship titles, Tao Tian's weighty competition has only a handful of results, and has not even played in the Olympic stadium.
Before the Rio Olympics, Momota Kento was suspended for 15 months by the Japan Badminton Association for gambling. Less than a year after the lifting of the ban, he won the World Championship, and since then, he has basically "dominated" the men's singles.
After the Malaysian Open in January this year, a famous Japanese general encountered a car accident on the way to the airport and was diagnosed with a fracture of the orbital floor of his right eye and underwent surgery.
With the Tokyo Olympics being postponed for one year, Momota, home-grown battle, has once again become the biggest favourite to win the championship. At the end of February this year, he resumed training. In an interview at the end of June, he said his eyesight was "98% the same as before".
The World Badminton Federation officially froze the current world rankings on March 31, and Tao Tian had occupied the men's singles world ranking for more than a year. For the upcoming personal Olympic debut, the Japanese star will aim directly at the champion. Perhaps the moment when the wish came true is also the beginning of Tao Tian becoming a badminton legend.
Shi Yuqi
Guoyu's new forces shoulder new expectations
Li Zongwei hand-picked a new generation of "four kings", Tao Tian Xiandou led, followed by Shi Yuqi. The latter is regarded as the new leader of the national feather men's singles, and even "the hope of the whole village", next year's Olympics is most likely to block the players of Tao Tian.
At present, Shi Yuqi has a record of 2 wins and 4 losses with the world's first Tao Tian. The last encounter was last year's Sudirman Cup final. Shi Yuqi won the game by reversing in three rounds and won the key battle for the national feather to regain the Su Cup. At that time, Xia Xuanze, the head coach of the national feather singles group, stated that Shi Yuqi would not be afraid of Momota’s ranking and strength. Better light. There is Momota, don't be afraid! Because Momota made his debut earlier, we are now going to catch up and shock him. As long as we handle it well, our advantage will be more obvious."
After the Su Cup stunning the audience, Shi Yuqi sprained his ankle in the Indonesian Open last July and underwent surgery. After three months of rest, he returned to the arena. For Shi Yuqi, it was very difficult to overcome the difficulties and catch up with the progress during the Olympic points competition. "Small stones" need to bury their heads to climb the hill, return to the peak state, but also to overcome the shadow of injury. The postponement of the Olympic Games and the suspension of the games undoubtedly gave Shi Yuqi and Guo Yu the opportunity to resume system training and retreat.
The men’s singles group set the goal of hitting the highest podium in the Olympics. Shi Yuqi has a high probability of being the first choice to carry the heavy responsibility. After Lin Li, his duel with Tao Tian may become the main theme of the men's singles.
Jin Ting
Taojin decisive battle is expected to continue classic
After Taufik, the Indonesian men’s singles scene no longer exists, but the rise of Jin Ting has given the former badminton power the hope of warming up. Jin Ting became famous later than his teammate Jonathan, but achieved "overtaking" and became the "one brother" of Indonesian men's singles.
Jin Ting's style of play is known for his violent offensive. In the second round of the 2018 Indonesia Open, he hit a 415.8 kilometers per hour killing, approaching Li Zongwei's world record of 417 kilometers per hour, and some people are looking forward to whether he will become the next Li Zongwei. .
However, compared with Li Zongwei's overall, the badminton world generally believes that today's Jin Ting is still waiting for fire. Rao is so, the Indonesians still won the praise of "Momota Buster". Although Tao Tian has an absolute advantage of 11 wins and 4 losses in the match between the two, he has personally admitted that Jin Ting's ball is extremely fast and difficult to restrain.
Some insiders predict that after the era of "Zuo Lin You Li", the "Peach Wars" is expected to be the next peak duel, because Jin Ting has plenty of physical fitness, a sharp attack and a variable rhythm. Little pressure. In time, as Jin Ting becomes more mature, if the two meet in the Olympic Games, World Championships and other major competitions, they are expected to join forces to dedicate classics. Such a scene may be realized next year at the Tokyo Olympics.
Anselon
All England's new king Rio once picked copper
This year's All England Open is the only high-level event in the World Badminton Federation so far. Axelon has become another Danish men's singles player after the Ged in 1999.
The All England Open is the only highest-level (super 1000) event in Europe in the current badminton tournament system. Axelon broke through the Asian men’s singles player’s 20-year “monopoly” of the championship, making it a time for Europe Inspiring. Gade is the only European seedling in the "four kings" of the badminton world, while Axelon is the most promising candidate to succeed Gade.
During this Olympics cycle, Axelon showed a trend of opening higher and lowering. In 2017, he won two championships in the World Championships and Super Series Finals, and Axelon is gaining momentum. However, from 2018, he suffered injuries to his ankle, groin and leg, and even withdrew from last year's two Indonesian and Japanese Olympic points.
The All-British champion this year regained confidence in Anselon, who experienced the ups and downs of the past two years, but facing the 13-game losing streak of Tao Tian is also an indisputable fact, which discounted his competitiveness.
In any case, in the eyes of Guo Yu, now "Denmark One Brother" is one of the main opponents preparing for the Olympic Games. In the case of equal strength, only those with better preparation and better performance on the spot can go further. Next year, the post-90s will gather in Tokyo, and Axelon’s experience in collecting copper is his advantage.
Written by Liu Chen, reporter of Beijing News