Unshakable trust serves up success

Team China's badminton heroes credit their strong bond for dramatic Sudirman Cup triumph

Badminton star Chen Yufei gets goosebumps when she recalls Team China's epic home-court Sudirman Cup triumph last month. China was crowned champion of the prestigious mixed-team event for the 13th time after defeating South Korea 3-0 in the final in Suzhou, Jiangsu province. But despite that emphatic result, China's third successive Sudirman title was anything but straightforward, with the host having to dig deep in a dramatic 3-2 semifinal victory over Japan.

Chen Yufei insisted that stunning comeback would not have happened without the trust and never-say-die spirit that binds the Chinese team.

"For me, the whole campaign was pretty scary, especially the semifinal. It was like we had already fallen off the cliff and, in the most epic way, we came back from the dead. Even now, I cannot believe that we eventually won it," said women's singles ace Chen Yufei in an exclusive interview with China Daily show On Your Marks.

"The Chinese badminton team is such a great group of people. We all want to ease the pressure on our teammates by winning our own matches and producing our best at the championship. And we all believe in each other's abilities. We trust each other.

"After I was defeated in the semifinal, all my coaches and teammates still believed in me and gave me another chance to keep playing in the women's singles game in the final. I just told them I will bring back glory."

China breezed through the group stage at the tournament, beating Egypt, Singapore and Denmark, all 5-0, before seeing off Indonesia 3-0 in the first knockout round. However, the epic seven-hour semifinal tussle with Japan pushed Team China to its absolute limits as it battled back from the brink of elimination to prevail 3-2.

After Chen Yufei lost to world No 1 Akane Yamaguchi in the semifinal, men's doubles pair Liu Yuchen and Ou Xuanyi saved four match points to rescue Team China in an enthralling encounter. Women's doubles pair Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan then completed the stunning comeback to seal China's spot in the final.

Chen Yufei seized her shot at redemption in the final, with the 25-year-old reigning Olympics women's singles champion overcoming South Korean ace An Se-young to help Team China on its way to a 3-0 triumph.

"We dared not watch the TV when we were preparing for the semifinal. We were not sure if we would get the chance to play at all if the men's doubles lost to Japan," women's doubles star Jia told China Daily.

"We waited for more than seven hours. It was really hard mentally for us to wait that long. It was like taking a roller-coaster ride over 100 times. It was incredible that we even had the chance to play."

As a test of a team's all-around strength, Sudirman Cup ties consist of five matches — men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles, women's doubles and mixed doubles. So teamwork is a key element to success in the competition.

"Actually, before we stepped on the court, our hands and feet were cold, and we were too tense. There were kids who escorted us to the court, and I just felt their hands were very warm," Jia added.

"But our coaches and teammates gave us that sort of firm look to reassure us. And they told us that they trusted us and we could do it. Our fitness coach told us to sprint up and down the court to warm ourselves up."

Chen Qingchen echoed those sentiments, saying the very presence of Jia alongside her helped shake off those excess nerves. "I just stopped thinking too much. All I needed to do was to deliver my best with my playing partner," she said.

After the Sudirman Cup, the three Team China stars continued their momentum. Chen Qingchen and Jia won the women's doubles title at the Singapore Open earlier this month, while Chen Yufei won the women's singles title at the Indonesia Open last week.