Our reporter Zhou Yuan
On August 22, the 2022 Badminton World Championships will kick off in Tokyo, Japan.
A year later, Chen Yufei and He Bingjiao, the two main national feather women's singles players, came to Tokyo together. A year ago, Chen Yufei won the Tokyo Olympics championship, and He Bingjiao also entered the semi-finals.
A year later, the two joined hands again, looking forward to continuing to achieve good results for the national feather women's singles in the World Championships.
This year, the Badminton World Championships will be held at the Tokyo Stadium, not the Musashino Forest Sports Plaza in the Tokyo Olympics.
Although the competition venue is different, returning to Tokyo after a year will inevitably remind everyone of the unforgettable experience a year ago.
"The whole feeling is still a bit similar." Chen Yufei admitted frankly.
With the halo of the Tokyo Olympic champion coming to the World Championships, Chen Yufei's performance has attracted much attention.
But in Chen Yufei's view, she has to correct her mentality.
"After winning the Olympic championship, everyone has higher expectations for me, and I need to adjust my mentality. If you think that after winning the Olympic championship, you must win the world championship, that is a wrong idea." Chen Yufei admitted frankly, "Taking Of course, it is the best to win the championship. If you don't get it, it means that you have many things that you haven't done well, and there are still problems to be solved. For the game, I will do my best, do every detail well, and show the best state, but Try to avoid that mentality of wanting to win and fear of losing.”
This time, Chen Yufei, the No. 4 seed in the World Championships, defended the bottom half alone. In the same area, there are strong rivals such as Thailand's "first sister" Ratchano and Chinese Taipei star Tai Tzu-ying.
This year, Chen Yufei has both wins and losses against them. If you want to create good results, you must go all out in every game.
"In my half, it's definitely a tough game, I'll play step by step, don't think too much." Chen Yufei said.
After a year, He Bingjiao came to Tokyo again, also emphasizing the importance of mentality.
Since 2017, this year's World Championships is the fifth time for He Bingjiao to compete in the World Championships. "Training must be dedicated, go all out to practice every day, and maintain a normal mind."
He Bingjiao has reached the semi-finals twice in the previous four World Championships.
For this year's competition, He Bingjiao certainly hopes to go further, but in the second half, her opponent is not weak.
There are not only the 2014, 2015 and 2018 three-time world champion and Spanish star Marin who returned to the competition, but also the defending champion and Japanese star Akane Yamaguchi.
It is what He Bingjiao has to do to attack the opponent with all her strength.
In addition to Chen Yufei and He Bingjiao, the Guoyu Women's Singles also sent two players, Wang Zhiyi and Han Yue, to play in this World Championship. They have also made significant progress this season.
The last time the national feather women's singles won the world championship was 11 years ago. This time, I hope that the four women will work together to achieve a breakthrough.