Chinese ladies singles player Zhou Mi has officially retired from the Chinese National Team. Citing a waist injury, Zhou Mi is no longer able to continue compete in the international circuit. she will go back to serve her native GuangXi Province team. Zhou Mi has plans to study in Beijing Polytechnic in the future. Zhou Mi joined the 2nd national team in 1996 and was promoted to the 1st team in 1998. Despite her long career, she has always played a number 2 role under the shadows of Gong Zhichao, Gong Ruina, Zhang Ning and Xie Xingfang. However, she has always been a solid badminton player, with a lethal combination of strength as well as finese. She has been one of the most dependable player in the Chinese team. It will be sad to see her leave.
What a pity! She's always a delight to watch at the Singapore Open. So young, yet she has to retire after only 10 years as a professional. And all because of injury. So it is not out of place for the IBF to find ways to shorten games to help prevent injuries to players. And with a relatively shorter career and lower prize monies, how many badminton talented prospects will find it attractive to play in the professional circuit? So IBF will also have to attract more sponsors to raise the prizes!
surely not a problem in the Chinese team, there is an army of talented young lady players eager to take the place of Zhou Mi.
That's right, saddly but true. So many up-and-coming younger players fighting for a spot, it's just not easy to keep the place in the team. I don't know if shortening the game will avoid injuries in badminton. With a shorter game, players can push more for a speed and power game. Not sure if the comparison would serve as a good example - we see more injuries in 100 M runners compared to 400 M. With this type of game, I guess there will be more injuries...
back to Zhou Mi though, i think she stands out as the player who has the most complete repetoire of perfect techniques. if you watch her play, it is like watching a badminton techniques video. one can learn a lot from just slow-motion'ing her movements. very joyful to watch.
Of course much will depend on the player's preparation. The reason I say shorter games should theorectically pose less of an injury to players is that the current game of 3 x15 points is already played at a much faster pace and with more power but the rallies between well-contested players are much longer, with some matches lasting an hour or more. (How much more the new 3 x 21 point system can demand from players is left to be seen.) These long matches sapped quite a lot of energy from the players and if they are able to proceed round after round to the final, they would have played 4 to 5 matches in total, sometimes with as many as 3 or more matches going into the rubber. During the final, they have to remain in good physical and mental condition in order to give of their best. During the AE final, even Lin Dan almost succumbed to injury when he fell badly and in pain, but Lee Hyun Il was unable to capitalize. Even at this final appearance, he has to be extensively bandaged on both legs. The long matches that Lin had to endure before the final must have adversely affected his fitness and concentration. A serious injury to good players will not be good for badminton. The new 21 point system may actually do them a lot of good. Shorter matches mean more recovery time for players. Then we can look forward to a better match subsequently. But, of course, this is left to be seen and as each player is different, we cannot expect the same result.
There may be plenty to replace her on the team, but not many that will look as good as her in a one piece dress! Her combination of height and build made her one of if not the most powerful on the women's circuit, only her stamina held her back IMO. She's beaten everyone before, but unfortunately since last year, she started to lose to players that she had no problems with previously. I reckon she's still top 5 material, however the strength and pool of women's players from China is just scary. Always have to watch your back.
Shorter games will obviously imply more injuries, including at training! (more power training) Anyway, sad to see Zhou Mi retiring, as she had a very nice style to watch. She is leaving without having won any major - individual - title... (except All England which can be counted as "major" )
2006-2-11 中新社 中羽网 二十七岁的中国羽毛球名将周蜜再也无法实现拿一个单打世界冠军的梦想，随着被调整出国家队，她的运动生涯将告终结。 中国羽毛球队总教练李永波今天透露，教练组作出将周蜜调整回省队的决定一方面是出于备战二00八年奥运会的考虑，另一方面是出于队伍管理的考虑。“周蜜因有伤病而近一年不能进行正常的训练对队伍的管理不利”。 出生于广西一个体育世家的周蜜身体条件出众，与龚睿娜二人曾是中国女队的“当家花旦”。她二00一年曾获得世锦赛女单亚军，次年在釡山亚运会上夺冠，是中国队二00四年夺取尤伯杯的主力成员。去年雅典奥运会上，她获得女单铜牌。 曾多次世界排名第一的周蜜雅典奥运会后一直受伤病困扰，膝盖、腰椎先后出现问题，正常训练受到很大影响。但为了追逐单打世界冠军的梦想，她一直没有想过放弃。 教练组的决定对不甘心就此结束运动生涯的周蜜来说无疑是很大的打击。对记者的采访要求，周蜜一口回绝。她表示，她现在正在收拾东西，现在什么也不想说。 据悉，周蜜已有了自己的意中人，有了一位在北京做生意的男友。不能继续打球，周蜜有可能会开始实施自己的读书计划，前一段时间，她曾表示，希望能到北京理工大学经贸管理专业就读。
Loh, I agree shorter matches allow players more time to recover and have a lesser risk of injury during the tournaments. However, tournaments in my opinion, are less risk of injury to players. Training is. If the games go shorter, players will need to maximize their output in a shorter period of time. The conditioning for the players is changed, speed and power will be emphasised in detriment of technique. I think I watched an interview on Lee Yongbo where apparently main reason to change to 21 points is TV broadcasting. Any other given reasons are just not convincing.
