GAO Fangjie (高昉洁)

Reminds me of the meteoric rise of Wang Lin and Wang Yihan in 2006. 2 literal nobodies at the time who beat everyone along the way and defeated Xie Xingfang in the finals of the China Masters and World Cup respectively.
Both of them eventually went on to become world champions.

 

Don't worry,she has the speed to counter it, just not the experience and anticipation ability yet. I believe she'll learn fast.

Playing different styles, switching from one to the other and back is something young inexperienced players tend to struggle with, it takes some time to get used to it and make the necessary adjustment.

At the China Open, after Nozomi gave her a walkover playing only 1 point, GFJ faced three attacking players in succession, Lee Jang Mi, Sindhu, Marin, and suddenly in the final she's up against a superb retriever and runner, one who is pretty good at the front-court with her overhead drop shots and net play, that takes some adjustments to her game which she is not able to atm.

I believe she is intelligent enough to learn and do it fast, at the same time, she will continue to strengthen her attack to break down the resistance of defensive players and shore up her own defensive ability as well because you can't be attacking all the time.

 

Gao Fangjie posted on her weibo (microblog):

"Fortune smiles on me (her actual words - Lucky King/Queen). Know full well my own capabilities and limitations. Jiayou, Jiayou, OK. Got to click (for some) energy." - Justin, sorry, a bit difficult for me to translate exactly what she wrote, can only second-guess

Gao Fangjie is still a senior level three student (高三学生, CMIIW) studying for her national higher education entrance exam , commonly known as Gaokao (高考, "Higher Education Exam", Pinyin gāo kǎo, lit. "High exam") according to this article
http://sports.qq.com/a/20171120/014369.htm

 

Your comments reminded me of WS coach, Zhang Ning. You could say the same thing about her. On the other hand, Guo does need more big tournament experience. W.r.t. resemblance to LXY, I think Guo looks much better.

 

I'm afraid you're mistaken, Marin is not referring to their looks but similarity in playing style.

It's Gao Fangjie when asked by the reporter whether she has heard people saying they look alike and other things, answered that she is aware of that and that they both are similar in being attacking players.

" She played an outstanding game, also aggressively," Marin at the post-match CCTV interview not only praised Gao Fangjie highly but also included her in the list of opponents to pay close attention to," the next time we meet, I'll think of a way to beat her."

" I think she and Li Xuerui are very much alike," Marin added that GFJ's game reminded her of Li Xuerui's at the Rio Olympics, but the Spanish is unwilling to say in what way the 19-year-old and LXR are similar. " If I do, you will know my thinking of her game, that is part of my secret."

 

I must admit I was surprised that Gao F. couldn't adjust her game in the final of the China Open.As Justin said, after playing three fast opponents the returns from Akane was not as fast and furious which meant she had to hit the shuttle a bit harder. Having quite good strokes she should have been patient. Akane played very well and has improved her accuracy and deception. She deserved to be the champion. Notwithstanding, she is definitely an exciting player and I look forward to see how she fares at the Korea Masters on 28th November.

 

If I'm not wrong, Chen Weihua is also Lin Dan's mentor once who first led him to badminton at a young age before he (Lin Dan) joined the national team. Good choice, suitable candidate.

Personally, I hope CBA, with Xia Xuanze's assent, has the boldness to rope in Sun Jun and Zhao Jianhua whose credentials are not inferior to XXZ's. Remember, Sun Jun was once enlisted by Li Yongbo for a period of time to train Chen Long, and that was how WSX came to know him in person, as a result she herself also approached him to assist in training her for the CNG seeing how he contributed to raising CL's game.

I also think the Jiangsu coach, Li Yu, has a good reputation ; he's an ex-national player who retired young around age 26, iirc, and became a coach of Jiangsu and even once doubled up as a MS player for Jiangsu in one of the CNG team event (in 2013 iirc) scoring a shock victory over Chen Long !

 

Busanan is certainly no pushover, and she is the same half as Sung Ji Hyun, and waiting in the final could be Nichaon Jindapol or Lee Jang Mi or Kim Hyo Min, Pai Yu Po, Michelle Li.

It's her relative inexperience that's the concern. She needs more international exposure to grow and mature as a player, the potential is definitely there.

 

Gao Fangjie, well done. Congratulations for winning her maiden title, the KOR Masters GPG'17. May we see more of her on the winner's podium going forward. This is a very encouraging start to her young professional career, a title win coming so soon after her sensational performance at the China Open PSS.

In today's final match with Lee Jang Mi, Gao Fanjie started tentatively and was quite error-prone but at 14-19 down, she suddenly stepped on it with grit determination to take the next 7 points on the trot and bagged the first set. LMJ looked stunned and I believed her confidence was shattered for in G2 she was in shambles to lose it 5-21, a total demolition as GFJ was masterful in attack and defense while LMJ crumbled.

It seemed that the drift affected both the players on the near side as they were both guilty of lifting long several times, GFJ more than LMJ.

At first, when GFJ was trailing most of the way and making unforced errors now and then, I thought it's not going to be her day. To my utter surprise, at 14-19 behind in the opening set, she dug her heels in and fought all the way back with a 7-point run to the finishing line for a 21-19 victory. Such a come-from-behind win is a sign of grit determination, fighting spirit spirit, a never-say-die attitude and , if I may attribute it to, mental toughness. Of course, it's still too early to say how strong she is mentally as this is not a major or crucial match but it is a heartening sign of her ability to handle the critical points better than we expected of her at this stage of her career where her experience is wanting.

Another thing is she appeared to have realized how to capitalize on her height and reach at 178cm (5' 8") tall, that added to her speed of movement and good court coverage has raised her game another level in both offense and defense. As she herself said on her microblog after the China Open, she is fully aware of her current strengths and weaknesses, shortcomings and limitations, and has pledged to work hard indefatigably to improve herself in all aspects of her game.

For such a gifted player like her with the right attitude and attributes, I believe she will go far. Personally, I wish to see her surpass Li Xuerui, the sooner the better. Gaining experience and maturity take time, however, I hope she can do better than LXR who started her pro career at age 19 and within two years already an Olympic Champion at 21; additionally, I also wish GFJ has the mental toughness to reinforce her capability to go one better and become a multiple world champion as well one day. Wishful thinking or not, let the future tell.

Well, many people liken GFJ to LXR in terms of looks and badminton-wise, let's see how far she can go in the near future. All the best, GFJ. Way to go. Jiayou !

 

After the disappointment of Li Xuerui, and then He Bingjiao so far, I'm glad I've found another CHN WS to be excited about and will be following her progress closely. Who knows, I may even begin to idolise her one day soon.

 

Whether or not this was what's actually said, I thought this too the first time I saw her. Looks.

 

From BWF website http://bwfbadminton.com/news-single...eep-gwangju-victor-korea-masters-2017-review/

China’s fast-rising Women’s Singles prospect Gao Fangjie was the sole non-Korean winner at the Gwangju Victor Korea Masters 2017, winning her debut international title yesterday.

Gao (featured image), who was runner-up at the Tahoe China Open (Superseries) last month, continued to impress as she successively brought down fourth seed Busanan Ongbamrungphan (Thailand), Korean qualifier Bae Ji Won and eighth seed Pornpawee Chochuwong (Thailand) to enter the semi-finals.

There she faced compatriot Wang Zhiyi, who had stunned home favourite Sung Ji Hyun 27-25 7-21 21-12 in the quarter-finals. Gao made it past her 21-17 21-8 and went on to beat Korea’s Lee Jang Mi 21-19 21-5 in the final.

Lee Jang Mi had earlier beaten World Junior champion Gregoria Mariska (Indonesia) in the quarter-finals and second seed Nitchaon Jindapol (Thailand) in the semi-finals.

 

I’ve just seen that GFJ is going to play in India in january and I’m quite happy that CBA is giving her more exposure.
I’m looking forward to seeing her in top 15.

 

I've become very fond of watching Gao Fangjie play, delightful to watch. At this moment, I regard her as a rough or uncut diamond and would love to see her rise quickly enough to top 15, then top 10 by end of 2018, if possible.

It's also my hope that she will qualify for the Nanjing WC next year held on homesoil.

But at the same time, I am a bit worried as Zhang Ning herself once expressed that those CHN WS players born after 1995 (aka Gen Z) referring more to those 18,19 years old, that they are generally not single-minded in training, tend to be impatient, and can't endure hardship.

Here http://sports.sina.com.cn/others/badmin/2017-12-23/doc-ifypvuqf2943404.shtml, I translate only the part where Zhang Ning commented on Gao Fangjie, in addition to He Bingjiao and Chen Yufei:

In the last group match against Ratchanok in the SSF'17,I told Chen Yufei one day before the match:" You have to win only then do you have chances, cannot count on others. You never lose to Ratchanok, but, just in case you do, don't relax. Chen Yufei is sometimes unusually relaxed, she's like thoughtless,when the opponent is leading, she's still not anxious. Even though she won the match with Ratchanok, at the end of it I still criticized her, saying she led by so much yet she wavered (allowing the opponent to close the gap). Whenever CYF is competing, I never fail to encourage her, such as every time she makes a mistake, I will shout: Never mind, Jiayou! Still she won't cooperate with me every time , and I'll get so angry...

Similarly in the SSF, He Bingjiao just before her match with Akane Yamaguchi said to me she would just give it a try. I said:" I'm not scolding you, if that's your attitude, you can only lose. But if you've the spirit of "I want to beat you", even if you lose, it's feels different. Without the must-win attitude, only want to try, try, no matter how exciting the match, how hard you fight, it's useless. What everybody wants is results.

Next is Gao Fangjie. During training, she'd one moment say this part feeling uncomfortable, next moment that part uncomfortable. I'd just tell her:"This not a nursing home, if you can't take it, just go home and forget it." I just want to provoke her, regardless of her feelings, can't be helped, that's exactly what I said.