We are committed to giving our all to achieve strong results, continuously accumulating experience and growing through the process.
Netizens previously created memes mocking Coach Chen after the Chinese men’s doubles’ poor performance in the European series and the absence of Liang Weikeng/Wang Chang from the Japan Masters, leading to criticism and calls for his resignation on his Weibo. On the morning of November 17, 2023, in Japan, Chen Qiqiang posted a detailed article addressing the recent preparations of the national men’s doubles team. Later that afternoon, all three Chinese men’s pairs—Liu Yuchen/Ou Xuanyi, Tan Qiang/Zhou Haodong, and He Jiting/Ren Xiangyu—advanced to the semifinals, securing a finals spot early. In his article, Chen wrote: As we pen this, we are preparing to board a flight to Copenhagen for the Denmark, France, and Germany Opens. Liang Weikeng/Wang Chang will only compete in Denmark and France, while Liu Yuchen/Ou Xuanyi and the other three men’s pairs will continue to the Germany 300 Open to earn valuable Olympic qualification points. After the China Open in September, the primary focus shifted to the Asian Games. The two main men’s doubles pairs for the Asian Games skipped the Hong Kong Open, allowing nearly two weeks for dedicated preparation. Pre-tournament training differed for the two key pairs, Liang Weikeng/Wang Chang and Liu Yuchen/Ou Xuanyi, due to their distinct playing styles. We consistently reviewed matches to clarify strategic directions. For Liang Weikeng/Wang Chang, who employ a serve-and-receive creation and attack-oriented approach, we focused on enhancing offensive efficiency and shot control stability. Liu Yuchen/Ou Xuanyi, leveraging their height advantage, emphasized quick transitions to offensive and defensive phases to establish multi-rally patterns. Thus, training intentionally intensified offensive drills for Liang Weikeng/Wang Chang, covering technique quality, rotation coordination, and multi-shuttle exercises to refine attacks and boost scoring capability, while also strengthening defensive counters. For Liu Yuchen/Ou Xuanyi, we simplified serve-and-receive complexities, prioritizing rapid side positioning and drive-block drills to enter攻守 stages swiftly. Strategic discussions were just the initial step; implementation in training was crucial. During preparations in Hangzhou, team leadership provided strong support, assigning young players for sparring. Foreign coach Cui conducted daily multi-shuttle sessions to enhance technical proficiency, ensuring high-intensity technical and competitive drills across the men’s doubles group. Liang Weikeng showed high motivation and demanding standards after the China Open, while Wang Chang gained confidence post-victory, performing more assuredly on court.Liu Yuchen and Ou Xuanyi have shown increasingly smooth communication and cooperation, with their training quality being quite impressive. A compilation of Liang Weikeng’s powerful smashes raises the question: Is he currently the strongest attacker in China’s men’s doubles?
As the competitiveness of men’s doubles and men’s singles gradually improves, expectations for winning the men’s team gold medal at the Asian Games have been held for quite some time. With solid pre-competition preparations, the team members are confident and morale is high. The Asian Games schedule includes both team and individual events, spanning a relatively long period. In the team event, the men’s squad collaborated effectively, with singles and doubles players supporting each other to defeat opponents from Chinese Taipei and Japan. Particularly in the final against India, after trailing 0-2, the team fought back through the efforts of Li Shifeng, Liu Yuchen/Ou Xuanyi, and Weng Hongyang, securing a 3-2 comeback victory to claim the badminton men’s team gold medal. For the men’s doubles group, winning the team gold is the most significant achievement of this Asian Games, further boosting confidence for next year’s Thomas Cup. The moment of reclaiming the Thomas Cup is highly anticipated. In the subsequent individual events, Liu Yuchen and Ou Xuanyi defeated this year’s newly crowned world champions, Seo Seung-jae and Kang Min-hyuk of South Korea, demonstrating their strength and gaining valuable points for Olympic qualification, along with increased confidence. The performance in men’s doubles at the Asian Games was mixed, with shortcomings clearly evident and feelings of regret. In the individual events, the Chinese badminton team reached the finals in four categories, with men’s doubles being the only one not to make the podium. Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang, in the round of 16, lost a strong lead of 19-13 and 20-18 in the third set to South Korea’s Choi Sol-gyu and Kim Won-ho, missing the chance to advance. After defeating strong Korean opponents, Liu Yuchen and Ou Xuanyi lost in the quarter-finals to Malaysia’s Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik in three sets, also missing the podium. Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang, originally highly competitive, were affected by Wang Chang’s fever during the match, which reduced his energy and physical condition, preventing them from maintaining high-intensity, quality play. This highlights insufficient supervision by coaches and the need for athletes to enhance self-protection awareness. All daily activities should revolve around competition preparation. A major event like this, occurring once every four years, is a rare opportunity. The loss was not due to lack of skill but other factors, making it a regrettable and painful lesson. With the Paris Olympics approaching next year, lessons from this Asian Games will be learned to strengthen athlete management and supervision, ensuring they compete in healthy condition. The upcoming European tournaments, critical for Olympic qualification rankings and year-end finals eligibility, will be approached with full effort to achieve good results and continue gaining experience for growth.