Our players will return to the Lion City on Saturday (April 13) after completing their trip to the 2024 Asian Badminton Championships. The men’s and women’s singles players Luo Jianyou and Yang Jiamin, as well as the mixed doubles team Xu Yongkai/Chen Weihan told Lianhe Zaobao in Ningbo that the points competition was over and they would take a short break before starting a new journey.
Since this Asian Championship is the last points competition for Asian players in the Paris Olympics, this also means that the task of grabbing points for Singaporean players in the Olympics has been completed. However, who can represent Singapore in the badminton competition at the Paris Olympics in July will have to wait until the Badminton World Federation announces the final list after the deadline on April 28.
In fact, before the opening of this Asian Championships, it was already clear that Luo Jianyou and Yang Jiamin would be nominated for the Olympics, ranking 12th in the men’s singles and 14th in the women’s singles respectively in the Olympic standings. It should be said that this time they have no pressure to compete for Olympic qualifications. Their goal is to grab more points to improve their rankings and win a better position for themselves in the Olympic draw.
Riding on the momentum of winning the Spanish Masters, Luo Jianyou came to Ningbo with a good mentality and full preparation, hoping to perform well. Even if he could not win the silver medal in last year’s Asian Championship, he would at least equal the quarter-finals of the Asian Championship the year before last.
In the first round against Japan’s 30-year-old veteran Kenta Nishimoto, Luo Jianyou played proactively in the first round. However, after being “interfered” by his opponent in the decisive game, Luo Jianyou lost patience, leading to the final defeat. This undoubtedly sounded the alarm for him in advance for the Olympics. He will need to pay urgent attention to how to deal with a similar situation if it happens again.
Due to a foot injury, Yang Jiamin only played one All-England tournament in March. When she came to Ningbo, she wanted to test the recovery of her foot injury through competition and regain her past form. But during the competition, she found it was more difficult than she imagined. However, she will next participate in the Chengdu Uber Cup at the end of April, hoping to use this opportunity to make more progress.
Xu Yongkai/Chen Weihan’s Olympic prospects are worrying
Teammates’ Olympic seats are safe, but Xu Yongkai/Chen Weihan’s Olympic prospects are worrying. Since entering the Paris Olympics points cycle on May 1 last year, the husband-and-wife team has overcome many difficulties and competed everywhere, but they are still in danger.
This Asian Championship is very important to them. Unexpectedly, after passing the first round, they encountered the world’s number one, but they had no choice but to stop in the top 16 of the mixed doubles, scoring only 4800 points. Xu Yongkai said: “It is not yet certain whether we will go or not. We will not know until the final announcement.”
The husband-and-wife team is still looking forward to Paris, but what if they can’t go? They said: “Then we will be very disappointed and a little regretful. But competitive sports are cruel and we tried our best. However, we will not stop.”
This Asian Championship will enter the rematch on Friday (12th). In women’s singles, China’s Chen Yufei, He Bingjiao, Han Yue and Wang Zhiyi defeated their respective opponents to win the semi-finals. Among them, the biggest highlight was that He Bingjiao and Han Yue both eliminated South Korea’s An Xiying and Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi 2-0 respectively, continuing to compete for China’s second Olympic quota in women’s singles.
2024-04-12 13:42:08
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