(Fourteenth Winter) "Fourteenth Winter" Observation: When a southern province curling team won its first winter sports medal

　　China News Service, Hulunbuir, February 21st, Title: "Fourteenth Winter" Observation: When a southern province curling team won its first winter sports medal

　　Author Guoxuan

　　When Wang Zhiyu/Zhu Zeyangxu stood on the curling mixed doubles podium at the Winter Games, it was of special significance to the Fujian team - it was not only the first medal for the Fujian delegation after the opening of the "14th Winter", but also the first medal for the Fujian ice hockey team. The curling team won its first Winter Games medal since its establishment, while the Fujian curling team is the first provincial team in ice and snow sports in the history of Fujian Province.

　　In the mixed pairs final of the curling (open group) of the 14th National Winter Games (referred to as "Fourteenth Winter") held on the 20th, Fujian team Wang Zhiyu/Zhu Zeyangxu narrowly lost to Heilongjiang team Badxin/Jiang Yilun in overtime. Won second place with 6:7.

　　In the final, the Fujian team took the lead three times. Although it was a bit regretful that they missed the championship in the end, Fujian curling team coach Li Hongbo said that winning the runner-up was an unexpected surprise.

　　Compared with Bad Xin, who created the Chinese team's best curling mixed doubles result in the Winter Olympics, and Jiang Yilun, the former main player of the national team, Wang Zhiyu and Zhu Zeyangxu are slightly less experienced. However, as a young team, they made great progress in their first game at the All-Winter Games. They once won seven consecutive victories in the round-robin stage and finally won the runner-up.

On February 20, Zhu Zeyangxu competed in the mixed pairs final of curling (open group) at the 14th National Winter Games. Photo by China News Service reporter Cui Nan

　　"Before the game, we prepared to fight until the eighth game. We controlled the score very well in the early stage. Although we lost, we learned a lot." Wang Zhiyu said.

　　Zhu Zeyangxu, a young player born in 2002, participated in the National Winter Games for the first time, but he has already shown a calm temperament in the game. "I was very nervous at the beginning. My teammates and coaches kept encouraging me, which gradually improved my success rate. I still have many shortcomings. I will accumulate experience through competitions, summarize the problems and continue to work hard."

　　Opponent Jiang Yilun highly affirmed the performance of the two young players, believing that their skills were stable and mature, and they played very carefully; coach Li Hongbo was also full of praise for the players, praising them for withstanding the test, playing very stably in every game, and playing to their full potential. ability.

　　Curling is a traditional advantageous sport in Northeast China. The achievements of the recently formed Fujian team have given the outside world more expectations for the development of ice and snow sports in the southern provinces of China.

　　Li Hongbo said that before and after the Beijing Winter Olympics, with the implementation of the "Northern Ice and Snow Exhibition" and the expansion of the results of "driving 300 million people to participate in ice and snow sports", Fujian Province vigorously developed ice and snow sports and designated the Putian Sports Center Ice Sports Hall as the provincial Internal professional curling training base to cultivate reserve professional talents.

　　In addition to building professional venues, the training level of the Fujian team has also "taken to the next level." Li Hongbo, a former professional curling player, said that compared with previous training methods, the Fujian curling team will refer to the training methods of foreign teachers. In addition to physical training, it also focuses on improving the skills of the players through games, post-game analysis, etc. Tactical level and psychological quality, training methods are more diverse.

　　Industry insiders believe that the development of ice and snow sports in southern China has gone through a process from scratch, but the most important thing is "something". With this "start", the southern provinces have a lot to do. Wang Zhiyu said that their silver medal may help curling develop in the southern provinces.

　　In fact, with the help of the "14th Winter", Fujian Province has already planned to promote the development of curling throughout the province. Li Hongbo said that due to its late start, the Fujian team currently focuses on joint training and talent introduction. In the new cycle after the "14th Winter", the Fujian team will pay more attention to the cultivation of local talents and strive to allow local athletes to participate in the youth competition of the next Winter Games.

　　"The '14th Winter' is an important node to promote the popularization of curling in Fujian. After that, the venues and facilities will be improved to attract more athletes for training." Li Hongbo said. (over)