She surely know how to answer politically correct stuff. "after all there are relatively few female players in the provinces and there is a gap between them and me" everything else so diplomatic, almost appears to be scripted. Looks like she isn't only graceful in badminton but also in tackling questions
A sign of maturity being tactful and diplomatic. She has a rebellious streak and her behaviour showed in the past whether off or on court but for years her life, mostly career, has been full of ups and downs, particularly her Olympic deselection, sinking into depression for almost a year, and several setbacks, including missing another Olympics, a number of hard knocks. It's just as well that she has grown up and probably leading a happier life when she chose to be the little woman behind her man, Chen Long. Also glad to see that she still has the passion for the sport and the will to keep up with training in the provincial team in preparation for the National Games this September. Born 13 Feb 1990, still only 27 , somewhat premature for her to retire from the pro circuit. As she is now pursuing a masters degree in a sports university, wish her all the best in her future endeavours.
While I can't say she was among my favourites, but still somewhat sad at her retirement. She is not even that old. She could have continued if she wanted.
Another elite pairing. Wonder which pair is better in XD? LD’s, LCW’s or CL’? Did LCW’s wife ever been #1 in WR?
http://sports.sina.com.cn/others/badmin/2019-05-02/doc-ihvhiqax6249276.shtml Chen Long joked on weibo:" Hope your head not too big, and your eyes not too small..." Many online friends sent their congratulatory messages soon after learning of the news. One even joined in the fun and added: "Congratulations, ear also not too big (small small)."
http://sports.sina.com.cn/others/badmin/2019-05-02/doc-ihvhiqax6312381.shtml When Wang Shixian's pregnancy is made known, some fans discovered that Chen Long still 'owes' her a wedding. When to 'make up for' the wedding ? Chen Long smilingly replied to Sina sports :" The wedding ceremony should take place after the Tokyo Olympics, I suppose, now that the OG qualification cycle has just begun, I have no time to prepare for the wedding. Thinking once I have the time, to properly prepare for it."
Tokyo 2020 Gold, wow what a bold prediction Sometimes the Olympic Games presents surprising result, badminton event is also no exceptional, Barcelona 1992 (Alan Budikusuma) and Sydney 2000 (Ji Xinpeng) are the best example for men's singles champion. We'll wait whether the pendulum will shift to the underdog after last three editions went to the faves, Lin Dan (2008/2012), Chen Long (2016).
They were officially married in 2017 December, collected their marriage certificate, it's just the traditional wedding ceremony that they postpone. If I'm not wrong, at that time, they held a small, private affair and Chen Long promised her a proper grand wedding one day.
http://sports.sina.com.cn/others/badmin/2019-09-04/doc-iicezzrq3422553.shtml (I shan't translate the entire lengthy article which is mostly about Wang Shixian sharing her feelings,emotions,experience, concerns and anxieties as a first-time mother) “起名叫小咖啡是因为谌龙喜欢喝咖啡，我们全家人都喜欢喝咖啡。他出生的时候黄疸数值有点高，身上有点黄，晒太阳后一下变得很黑，我妈妈开玩笑说这孩子从咖啡晒成了黑咖啡，现在白了一点，可以改名叫白咖啡了。” " The baby's first name is Little Coffee because Chen Long loves coffee, our whole family is all fond of coffee. When he's born, the jaundice (bilirubin) level is a bit high, body somewhat yellow, after sunning turned dark all of a sudden, my mum joked that the little child has turned from coffee to black coffee,and now that he's become a bit fair, we can change his name to White Coffee." [The caption in the photo says, postpartum (also called postnatal) depression. At one time she was a little worried that she might be suffering from it, no, she is not undergoing any PPD therapy, just baby blues for which she's gotten over it now.]
Wang Shixian is considered the most tragic badminton player. Apart from Ye Zhaoying, she suffered the greatest injustice by China's policy of "Get the Gold at all cost". She was done dirty by CBA, LYB and last but not least Li Xuerui. I remember in the year range 2010-2012, W Yihan, Xin and Shixian were sitting comfortably in the top 4. Out of the three, Wang Shixian had the worst record against the top non-chinese opponents. That is due to her lack of stamina and ability to smash a shuttle. Li Xuerui slowly emerged from the backdrop in the late 2011, winning some US/Canada Open before entering the All England final beating Yihan in the final. Now Li Xuerui did not play as much or as often as Wang Shixian but her record against foreign opponents was slightly better. Yet on that basis, CBA and LYB decided to drop WSX over LXR ? I find it so unfair because at the end of the day, LXR did not turn out to be the biggest heroine in the Olympics. The reasons 1. She DID NOT face any of the strongest non-Chinese opponents. Her hardest opponent turned out to be Yip Pui Yin. 2. She turned out to be the better player in All Chinese matches. She beat Xin and Yihan. I never take these matches seriously because usually some Chinese players are not good without their coaches instructions. 3. Yihan and Xin faced stronger opponents and Yihan provided the MOST critical performance by beating Saina. Had Saina won that semifinal and face Li Xuerui, Li Xuerui would have lost. It's a shame that Li Xuerui was exposed only after the Olympics 2012. She is a World Number One pretender to the throne and it reveals that she does not have what it takes to carry the responsibilities as a top shuttler to deliver when all the expectations and pressures are on her. Wang SX allowed that Olympic rejection to get the better of her and she became worst of herself. Not improving and remain the same player with bad attitude. It's a shame because she has the most natural footwork and shot placements unlike the other Chinese players that are relying on brute force. Hope no Chinese players will ever be in this position again. It's a dark place to be in.
I can understand your sympathy for Wang Shixian and that she was hard done by but it's not quite in the manner you claimed as if there's a conspiracy against her. As for Li Xuerui, her fairy tale run prior to and up to the London Olympics winning something like 30/31 matches in a row to capture the Olympic Gold was sensational as she swept all opposition before her, whether Chinese or non-Chinese opponents. It's certainly wasn't her fault that the strongest non-Chinese rivals were mostly eliminated by her compatriots. In other words, Li Yongbo's decision to select LXR over WSX for the LOG'12 turned out to be the right one at that time. There's no way to know how WSX would've performed at the Olympics had she been the one selected instead as it's true her records against foreign players were concerning and, naturally, any coach would take that into account. The then Head Coach LYB was bold to make that decision, if he had turned out wrong, he would've to bear the consequences, a position most coaches would rather not to be in. Like it or not, we've to hand it to LYB, who arguably is the most successful head coach in history. It's purely speculative Saina could have beaten LXR had they met in the Olympics. As I've pointed out, her run of 30/31 wins consisted of many non-Chinese rivals en route to the Olympics. What happened after LXR's OG triumph where as you've described she didn't live up to her billing was unforeseen, it's easy for you to run her down after the fact. I to was disappointed with LXR, and I'nm sure CBA too to some extent. To be honest, like you, I too have a soft spot for Wang Shixian. In fact, she is the reason why I signed up as a member in this forum as I've stated somewhere in this thread. Cheerio. By the way, WSX is happily married to Chen Long now and the couple has a an adorable baby they nicknamed Little Coffee as they themselves are fond of coffee. It's time we moved on. Que Sera Sera, “Whatever will be, will be”. Cheerio.
I knew it the moment LXR lost to Ratchanok in the world championship final is a sign of worst to come for the Chinese WS. She is exposed and completely allow non-Chinese players to win and gain even more confidence. When all the media pay their attention and focus on LXR since she was after all the Olympic Champion, since 2012, she has not actually delivered when it mattered most. I would say she is responsible for the downfall of the Chinese WS apart from the incompetent coaches. She is the root cause of the domino effects. She not only lost the WC titles twice in a row, she even lost in a major team event and failed to defend the Olympic title by getting injured. Arguably the worst world number 1 for a Chinese. Back to WSX, she got done dirty plain and simple.
