Women’s singles landscape changes, but Chen Yufei remains
The women’s singles landscape has changed drastically since Chen won Tokyo 2020 Olympic gold in 2021.
Former world number one Tai Tzu-ying of Chinese Taipei has retired, as has Chen’s Chinese teammate He Bingjiao.
Meanwhile, Rio 2016 Olympic champion Carolina Marín has struggled greatly with injuries, which caused the Spaniard to miss Tokyo 2020 and withdraw from the Paris 2024 tournament midway through.
“In 2019, 2021, 2022, every country had very strong opponents,” Chen said. “Now some have retired or are injured. But the rise of young players is a huge challenge.
“I hope to give my all in every match and stay healthy in training so I have a chance to compete with others.”
The road to Los Angeles 2028 is long. There are still two full seasons to go.
“There will be many difficulties along the way,” Chen acknowledged. “But each year has its own goals, like the World Championships or next year’s Asian Gameswhich are very important competitions.
“I’ll take it a step at a time — I don’t have any major injuries, so I still have a chance to compete in LA.”
Retirement is not on the cards for Chen, who will be 30 when those Games roll around.
“I have never thought about retreating slowly from competitions, because there’s still a lot of results and achievements I haven’t accomplished, such as a World Championships gold medal,” she said.
“Of course I’m not guaranteed gold at LA28 either, but being able to participate will be a great affirmation for myself.”
Keep reading
