China News Agency, Beijing, January 7th, title: Wang Wenjiao, the founder of Guoyu: Returning after riding the waves, swaying his feathers for a lifetime

  Author Men Rui

  "You love your career far more than you love yourself. This together with your patriotism constitutes your personality..." In the letter written by his daughter to Wang Wenjiao, his father traveled across the ocean and returned to China, turning the Chinese badminton business from almost blank The experience of leading to the top of the world is a colorful picture of life, and it is also a life choice that my father never regrets.

  On December 25, 2022, Wang Wenjiao, winner of the national honorary title of "Model of the People" and former head coach of the Chinese badminton team, died in Beijing at the age of 89.

  Wang Wenjiao is the pioneer and founder of badminton in New China.

His whole life is the hard work of plowing the court and making badminton take root in China, and it is also the epitome of the vast number of returned overseas Chinese who devoted themselves to the construction of the Republic after the founding of New China.

Guo Ruiren, deputy director of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Committee of Fujian Province, talked with Wang Wenjiao (left), a badminton player returned from Indonesia.

Chen Chunshe

The original heart of a child who has returned from the waves

  In November 1933, Wang Wenjiao, whose ancestral home was in Nan'an, Fujian, was born in Solo, Indonesia.

In 1941, 8-year-old Wang Wenjiao started to practice badminton. He entered the court after class.

By the early 1950s, he had become an Indonesian national player and a well-known badminton star in Indonesia.

  In 1953, China planned to hold a national ball game including badminton in Tianjin. A sports observation group of 50 people led by Indonesian overseas Chinese leader Fang Dingxun was invited to participate in the competition from Indonesia. Wang Wenjiao was one of them. a member.

  The mountains and seas are far away, and the observation group did not catch up with the sports meeting held as scheduled, so they had to start a friendly match with the winners of the sports meeting after arriving in Tianjin.

During the match, Wang Wenjiao won the new champion by a big score, but he couldn't be happy.

  At that time, badminton was very popular in Indonesia, and the level of competition was also rising. However, the badminton industry in China had not yet developed, and some badminton players also played tennis.

Seeing this situation, 20-year-old Wang Wenjiao and his partner Chen Fushou came up with the idea of ​​contributing to the revitalization of badminton in New China.

  "I felt uncomfortable at the time. The country is so big, but the level of badminton is so poor, so I don't want to go back (Indonesia)." In 2020, Wang Wenjiao, who is already an octogenarian, recalled the scene more than 60 years ago with sincere words.

A badminton racket on display at the third China International Import Expo.

Photo by Zhang Hengwei

  However, since the observation group came to China with collective passports, Wang Wenjiao had to return to Indonesia with the group.

One year later, on May 6, 1954, three young overseas Chinese, Wang Wenjiao, Chen Fushou, and Huang Shiming, set foot on a sea ship leaving Jakarta and sailed to China with passion.

  For this moment, Wang Wenjiao not only gave up the good life and honor status he already had, but also resolutely signed the guarantee of "never returning to Indonesia" and separated from his relatives.

"Pioneering" new China badminton business

  At that time in China, the popularity of badminton was not high, and the training venues were very limited. Wang Wenjiao and others could only train in the auditorium of the Tianjin YMCA.

  Wang Wenjiao, Chen Fushou, Huang Shiming and Shi Ning'an who returned later, this "quasi" national team composed of four people organizes training here, and at the same time promotes the popularization of badminton to the public.

  At this time, Wang Wenjiao was both the coach and the captain.

In order to build a development framework for China's badminton career, he and his teammates worked out a complete training plan including physical training, technical training, and tactical training.

  Every weekend, Wang Wenjiao leads his team members to hold exhibition games in factories, schools and other places in Beijing and Tianjin. He uses his exquisite skills to tell everyone "what is badminton", gradually cultivating the mass base of badminton.

A badminton match for teenagers and children was held in Dongyang City, Zhejiang Province.

Photo by Hu Yanghui

  "We are in the national team 365 days a year, and we only rest for one and a half days." The road to pioneering is always difficult. From the residence to the training ground, Wang Wenjiao and the players need to go to the bus station to take a bus, and then change to a tram .

"Every time I go there, it's 10 cents (10 cents and 4 cents) per person, and I'm responsible for reimbursement for everyone every night." Decades later, Wang Wenjiao still remembers these details. Flashes of memory.

  In 1956, the state planned to set up badminton training teams in Fujian and Shanghai. Four players who were almost invincible in China went to the two places to lead the training respectively, and Wang Wenjiao returned to his hometown Fujian.

  Since then, teams have been established in many places in China.

By 1958, when the China Badminton Association was established in Wuhan, more than 20 provinces and cities across the country had established badminton teams.

The training plan formulated by Wang Wenjiao and Chen Fushou was also assembled into the textbook "How to Play Badminton" as a guiding reference for athletes' training during this period.

  With the rapid popularity of badminton in China, the Chinese badminton team has gradually appeared in some world-class sports competitions, and the "March of the Volunteers" began to echo over the badminton court.

In the 2016 Rio Olympics badminton men's singles final, Chinese player Chen Long defeated Malaysian player Li Zongwei 2:0 and won the gold medal.

Photo by Du Yang

 The "Uncrowned King" is finally crowned

  When Wang Wenjiao proposed the idea of ​​returning to China, his family members once opposed it. One important reason was that China was not yet a member of the International Badminton Federation (now the "World Badminton Federation") and could not participate in international events organized by the International Badminton Federation.

  In 1965, Wang Wenjiao led the team to Europe to participate in the invitational match against Denmark and Sweden.

Denmark is a strong badminton country. Facing the "little-known" Chinese team in the international arena, the Danish newspaper published a headline: "Can the Chinese play badminton?"

  Wang Wenjiao and the team members answered this question with real results.

In the 34 games against Denmark and Sweden, the Chinese team won a complete victory with an absolute advantage of 34 to 0, shocking the international badminton world.

In the 2006 Thomas Cup final, the Chinese men's badminton team beat Denmark 3-0 and won the Thomas Cup.

Photo by Zhang Yu

  A substantial turning point occurred in London in 1982, at the twelfth Thomas Cup Badminton Tournament.

This is the highest level men's badminton team event in the world, and it is also the first time that China has participated in an official international event of the IBF since it resumed its legal seat in the IBF.

  Wang Wenjiao, then head coach of the Chinese badminton team, led the young players all the way to the final.

The final lasted for two days, with 9 sets and 5 wins.

Facing the "ever-victorious" Indonesian team, which has won the Thomas Cup 7 times, the Chinese team, which has little experience in the competition, fell behind 1-3 in the 4 games on the first day.

  Back at the station, Wang Wenjiao personally led the coaching team to do work for each athlete, adjust their mentality, and arrange tactics until the early morning.

  On the second day, facing a strong and dominant opponent, the Chinese team gave it a go and won 4 games in a row, turning defeat into victory.

The Chinese badminton team won the first men's team world championship. Since then, it has really stood on the top of the world badminton world, and the "uncrowned king" finally won the crown.

  This has also become the victory that Wang Wenjiao values ​​most.

In the window of his home, the photos recording the awards ceremony are collected together with many trophies.

In the photo, Wang Wenjiao raised his soup cup with both hands, smiling all over his face.

  "When I held up the trophy, I thought in my heart, as a Chinese, we are finally proud." He said.

At the "2019 Global Overseas Chinese Annual Awards Ceremony", Li Yongbo, the former head coach of the Chinese badminton team, presented the award to Wang Wenjiao (right), the winner of the national honorary title of "Model of the People" and the pioneer of badminton in New China.

Photo by Han Haidan

 A life of no regrets devoted to serving the country

  Practice hard, fight for the country, cultivate talents, and pass the torch from generation to generation.

Wang Wenjiao spent his whole life practicing his wish of "making Chinese badminton better no matter how hard and tiring it is", creating and witnessing the rise and glory of China's badminton industry.

  His experience and spirit have also infected his successors.

In the early 1960s, Tang Xianhu, a returned overseas Chinese from Indonesia, returned to China and trained under Wang Wenjiao.

  Tang Xianhu recalled that when he first returned to China, Wang Wenjiao supported him to go to various places to exchange technology with his own money.

"Without him, my badminton level would not have improved much. I became a coach later, and I was also influenced by him." For this legendary athlete who created the "12-year undefeated" record, Wang Wenjiao is an influence A deep Bole and a guide.

  Tang Xianhu, Hou Jiachang, Han Jian, Yang Yang, Zhao Jianhua, Xiong Guobao, Li Yongbo, Tian Bingyi...Wang Wenjiao has trained a lot of famous badminton players.

  Wang Wenjiao has coached the national badminton team for more than 20 years, leading the Chinese badminton team to 56 individual world championships and 9 team world championships.

After retiring, he rejected coaching invitations from other countries many times and devoted himself to the popularization and promotion of badminton in China.

Wang Wenjiao won the 2019 Global Top 10 Overseas Chinese Figures of the Year.

Photo by Jia Tianyong

  At the 2019 "Global Overseas Chinese Annual Selection" awards ceremony, Wang Wenjiao was named Person of the Year, and Li Yongbo, the former head coach of the Chinese Badminton Team, presented the award to his mentor.

According to Li Yongbo, it was Wang Wenjiao's two persistent support that allowed him to continue his career as a national player in 1984, compete in the world arena, and stay as the coach of the national team after retiring, creating another glory for the national team.

  Feeling grateful for his mentor, Li Yongbo said: "Without you, there would be no Chinese badminton, and without you, there would be no me."

  "Serve the country faithfully and live without regrets" is Wang Wenjiao's motto and a portrayal of his life.

Yu Ji, he regards badminton as his second life, playing his feathers all his life; Yu Guo, he said, "I dedicate my life to the motherland, and I have no regrets."

(Finish)

Biography:

  Wang Wenjiao, the former chairman of the Chinese Badminton Association, the former head coach of the Chinese Badminton Team, and the founder of the badminton business in New China.

His ancestral home is in Nan'an, Fujian. He was born in Solo, Indonesia in 1933. He returned to China in 1954 to join Chinese badminton.

Served as the vice chairman of the Asian Badminton Federation, a director and executive member of the International Badminton Federation, and a member of the fifth and sixth CPPCC National Committee.

He has won the title of "New China Sports Pioneer", the "Lifetime Achievement Award" of the World Badminton Federation, and the 2019 Global Overseas Chinese Person of the Year. In 2019, he was awarded the national honorary titles of "Model of the People" and "Most Beautiful Struggler".