Kuala Lumpur: 2014 has been an up-and-down year for the Chinese badminton team. While it’s women’s team have shown considerably less formidable than it used to towards the end of the year, the women’s team still a relatively strong and stable team compare to the men’s team.
In the 2014 Thomas Cup finals that was hosted in New Delhi India, five-time defending champions China failed to make it to the Thomas Cup final since 2002. But China’s head coach Li Yongbo chose to focus on the silver line behind the upset defeat.
“This is badminton as anything can happen,” said Li. “The defeat disappointed us. But as we are preparing for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio,it is not a bad thing to find our problems.”
Li admitted that the gaps between China and other teams are getting closer. Apart from the bitter loss at the Thomas Cup, China also failed to defend their men’s team title at the Asian Games in September, losing 2-3 to hosts South Korea in the final.
Younger players such as Chen Long and Gao Huan still could not act like a core player. The role of Lin in the men’s team is still irreplaceable. Given that Lin will turn 33 in 2016, the Chinese team is desperate for a new leader.
Tipped as the successor to China’s badminton icon Lin Dan, Chen Long won the world championship in August and was crow, still needs to further improve his skills and stability in order to follow the footsteps of “Super Dan”.
Chen conceded a 2-1 defeat to Lin in the final of 2014 Asian Games and also lost the first rubber in the semifinals of the Thomas Cup team event in New Delhi in May, which led to China’s 0-3 defeat to Japan.
“Lin is still a key player for China. But it will be not easy for him to keep in form,” Li added.
China’s men’s team troubles continued into the Asian Games where they fell to South Korea 2-3 in the badminton men’s team final.
