Pi Hong Yan & ex-China players

**madbad** · 11-03-2005, 02:03 PM

I know Pi Hongyan, among other Chinese players, was once in the China badminton squad. One of the reasons, so I read, for their release from the team was their (lack of) height. Can someone please enlighten me as to the height of Pi and other ex-China players now playing for European countries (Yao, Xu...). How do they compare with the current and upcoming crop of Chinese players in height. From watching the WS final of the 10th China Games, young Jiang did not look that tall, but she's got game.

Thanks

**Denmark bmt*fan** · 12-12-2005, 10:05 AM

Originally Posted by madbad

I know Pi Hongyan, among other Chinese players, was once in the China badminton squad. One of the reasons, so I read, for their release from the team was their (lack of) height. Can someone please enlighten me as to the height of Pi and other ex-China players now playing for European countries (Yao, Xu...). How do they compare with the current and upcoming crop of Chinese players in height. From watching the WS final of the 10th China Games, young Jiang did not look that tall, but she's got game.

Thanks

Pi Hongyan's height is 1.65m...

**ctjcad** · 12-12-2005, 10:51 AM

Originally Posted by madbad

I know Pi Hongyan, among other Chinese players, was once in the China badminton squad. One of the reasons, so I read, for their release from the team was their (lack of) height. Can someone please enlighten me as to the height of Pi and other ex-China players now playing for European countries (Yao, Xu...). How do they compare with the current and upcoming crop of Chinese players in height. From watching the WS final of the 10th China Games, young Jiang did not look that tall, but she's got game.

Thanks

I've seen 3 ex-China players in person and i can say, PiHY and XuHaiwen(German) are not tall. But Yao Jie(playing for Netherlands) is quite tall, at least 5'11" or 6'0"(178+cm)..Not sure if XHW or YaoJie were members of China's national squad or not..

**cheongsa** · 12-12-2005, 12:13 PM

Originally Posted by ctjcad

I've seen 3 ex-China players in person and i can say, PiHY and XuHaiwen(German) are not tall. But Yao Jie(playing for Netherlands) is quite tall, at least 5'11" or 6'0"(178+cm)..Not sure if XHW or YaoJie were members of China's national squad or not..

Based on Zhao Jianhua's commentary, Xu Huaiwen was never in the Chinese national squad.

**madbad** · 12-12-2005, 01:34 PM

So was Pi the only one out of the three in the Chinese national team? Was she just not good enough to cut it, were they using her height as a reason, or were there other reasons?

**cooler** · 12-12-2005, 01:52 PM

Originally Posted by madbad

So was Pi the only one out of the three in the Chinese national team? Was she just not good enough to cut it, were they using her height as a reason, or were there other reasons?

we can only speculate but my guess is chinese national team dont think pi was good enough. Look at gong zhichao, she is even shorter, and not only kept by the team but was pick over taller ye zhao ying to play against camilla martin in sydney olympic.

height helps alot but is not the only deciding factor.
of course gong ZC came close being deleted from the team

**cheongsa** · 12-12-2005, 06:12 PM

Originally Posted by cooler

we can only speculate but my guess is chinese national team dont think pi was good enough. Look at gong zhichao, she is even shorter, and not only kept by the team but was pick over taller ye zhao ying to play against camilla martin in sydney olympic.

What did you mean by "pick"? Didn't Ye Zhaoying lost to Camilla Martin in the semifinal? I have the impression Ye Zhaoying eventually won the bronze playoff that year.

**cooler** · 12-12-2005, 06:48 PM

Originally Posted by cheongsa

What did you mean by "pick"? Didn't Ye Zhaoying lost to Camilla Martin in the semifinal? I have the impression Ye Zhaoying eventually won the bronze playoff that year.

my source say on thursday of sept 21, 2000, the results of WS were:

Women Singles Semifinals

Gong Zhichao, China, def. Ye Zhaoying, China, 11-8, 11-8;
Camilla Martin, Denmark, def. Dai Yun, China, 11-5, 11-0.

**iso300** · 12-12-2005, 11:15 PM

Originally Posted by cheongsa

What did you mean by "pick"? Didn't Ye Zhaoying lost to Camilla Martin in the semifinal? I have the impression Ye Zhaoying eventually won the bronze playoff that year.

Since it was an all-China semi-final with Gong vs. Ye, maybe the coaches decided that Gong would be a better choice to face Martin. ?

I guess that's what Cooler meant to say by "pick".

**madbad** · 12-12-2005, 11:27 PM

It seems more and more Asian countries have put a premium on taller players, especially in their development programs. I've been told in Malaysia, if a player was to be chosen for their badminton programs, profiling is first done on his/her geneology, and height is one of the considerations. I guess you can't argue against that if every bit helps in producing a world beater.

**s1nn3r** · 12-13-2005, 04:31 AM

yeah~ Height is a huge advantages..
exp: 11 maradona cant win against any decent teams..

**madbad** · 12-13-2005, 04:43 AM

Originally Posted by s1nn3r

yeah~ Height is a huge advantages..
exp: 11 maradona cant win against any decent teams..

11 maradonas + 11 hands of god = World Cup

**LazyBuddy** · 12-13-2005, 11:43 AM

Originally Posted by madbad

So was Pi the only one out of the three in the Chinese national team? Was she just not good enough to cut it, were they using her height as a reason, or were there other reasons?

I believe Pi was in the 2nd squad, but never been to the 1st... Of course, I could be wrong, and I am still a big fan of her.

**Syaoran_Style** · 12-13-2005, 04:12 PM

You're right =p
Hongyan has always been in the B team, but when she won the bronze medal at the China Games, everybody thought that she would be in the national team. But the coaches told her that she couldn't (even if she could beat all the players).
About Gong zhichao, Pi hongyan said that she was always working more than the other players, maybe that's why she was really strong.

**Emmanuelle** · 12-22-2005, 08:20 PM

Height doesnt matter i think!
Remember the former olympic champion, Gong ZhiCHao?? she was about 1.64m. the main reason to force them to leave the national squad was they were unable to make into the first squad. yeah the main reason i think.