China News Service Client, Beijing, May 31 (Reporter Wang Yu) Under the epidemic, the world sports are brewing new changes in the vortex of the shutdown. Recently, the World Badminton Federation has successively released the tour schedule for the second half of 2020 and the new Olympic qualification event system. Faced with more complex and severe challenges, how will Guo Yu achieve breakthroughs in adversity?
Intensive schedule test reasonable allocation
Recently, the World Badminton Federation released an updated World Badminton Tour schedule for the second half of 2020. This new schedule shows that the world badminton are expected to restart in early August, plus the Tang You Cup temporarily "fixed" in October, and many high-level events postponed in the first half of the year, the world badminton will usher in continuous from September 4 months non-stop schedule.
Regardless of whether the World Badminton ’s rematch plan can be started as scheduled in August, even if the world's standards are met at that time, there will be 13 high-level events, including soup, from September 8 to December 20. You Cup, Guangzhou year-end finals, 2 Super 1000 games, 5 Super 750 games. Both the intensity of the event and the intensity of the schedule are unprecedented.
According to the relevant regulations of the World Badminton Federation, the top 15 players in the singles world and the top 10 players in the doubles world must participate in at least 12 races each year, including all 3 Super 1000 races. However, continuous battles will inevitably cause physical fatigue, and a little carelessness is very likely to cause hidden injuries.
Data map: This season, the famous Danish player Axelon has missed several tour events due to injuries. China News Agency reporter Tuobo
Especially in the critical period of the sprint for the Tokyo Olympics, whether it is the World Badminton Federation, or the various teams and athletes, I am afraid that they can only avoid injuries. Therefore, when the new schedule was announced, it caused many concerns. Malaysian mixed doubles star Chen Bingshun even called "Scary": "It's really scary to see my schedule like this, but I can't turn my head for a while."
In the face of many controversies, the World Badminton Federation changed its previous strong attitude. The World Badminton Secretary-General Thomas Lund said in an interview that such a tight schedule and requiring players to participate in too many games is not feasible. But even so, in the urgent second half of the battle, balancing the frequency of battles and maintaining a healthy body will be a big problem for athletes.
Is the new Olympic qualification system the optimal solution?
The world badminton competition will be suspended from March 16th. Since then, there have been reports that the Olympic points will be cleared or restarted in the second half of the year, and it has caused extensive discussions, including many objections. After two months of settling, the Olympic qualification system that the players have been clamoring for has finally settled.
The World Badminton Federation announces a new Olympic qualification system.
In the new program for the qualification of the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games badminton points issued by the World Badminton Federation, the first 17 weeks of 2021 will be used as an extra point for obtaining Olympic points on the basis of retaining athletes ’already obtained Olympic points. Only part of the match that was postponed, cancelled or suspended due to the outbreak.
The World Badminton Federation once stated in the announcement that this move was to ensure that the impact of the epidemic and international traffic restrictions were minimized, and a level playing field was provided. In fact, it is also true. Putting the unfinished Olympic integral race to next year will completely eliminate the uncertainty caused by the turmoil in the competition system caused by the epidemic this season, and even worry about the athletes.
Spanish women's singles star Ma Lin has not yet resumed training. She has previously disclosed that she has only been trained at home because she has not been allowed to play on the court, and she feels anxious. She believes that it will be very difficult to restart mentally. Today, the World Badminton Federation also strives to use half a season to help athletes find their feelings and confidence on the field.
Lin Dan, ranked 26th, has little hope, but he is still making his final fight for his fifth Olympic journey. (Photo by Xinming reporter Lu Ming in the picture)
Guo Yu's last fight for a full seat
Affected by the epidemic situation, Guo Yu returned to China after a series of rounds after the end of the All England Championships, and underwent a 14-day quarantine period. Although the plan is far from catching up with the changes and the lockout of the event also leaves players facing a situation where there is no ball to play, the team's preparations are still proceeding in an orderly manner during the postponement of the Tokyo Olympics.
Since badminton became an official event of the Olympic Games in 1992, Chinese badminton teams have fully participated. As of the current Olympic points list, the team has firmly occupied two seats in the men's singles, women's singles, women's doubles and mixed doubles, but in the once dominant project-men's doubles, the situation is not optimistic.
According to the current ranking, Guo Yu's pair of Li Junhui / Liu Yuchen ranked third, basically locking in an Olympic qualification. However, the ranking of "two doubles" Han Chengkai / Zhou Haodong has dropped to 12th place, which is more than 8,000 points away from the 8th-ranked Malaysian combination. The gap is very obvious.
The combination of the two towers may become the only male seedling of Guoyu. (Source of the image of the picture: Osports All Sports Photo Agency)
In addition, Guo Yu's competition for men's singles is also quite fierce. In addition to defending champion Chen Long occupying the fifth place and qualified for the Olympics, the new generation forces Shi Yuqi and veteran Lin Dan will compete for the last ticket to Tokyo. Although Lin Dan's hopes in the 26th place are very slim, he is still making his final fight for his fifth Olympic journey.
Overall, the announcement of the badminton schedule for the second half of the year and the finalization of the Olympic qualifying competition not only allowed Guo Yu to clarify the next goal, but also set aside a certain buffer time for further adjustment and adaptation. But in any case, if the team wants to achieve the goal of obtaining all five individual full qualifications, or even to rebuild the glory at the Tokyo Olympics, every next step should not be lost. (Finish)