According to the Concise Oxford Dictionary, a prodigy is: "a person, especially a young one, with exceptional abilities, an outstanding example of a quality, an amazing or unusal thing." So do any of those described here fit the bill?
Eeeh.... And what makes you think I'm so unhappy just because someone calls her a child prodigy? That post you quoted was a humble tips. You're way too sensitive, man Oh, btw, I don't think the term child prodigy quite fit her anymore. The girl is already, ahem, 16.
Today I watched He Bingjiao's semifinal match of the Viet Open GP on TV. I suspect her fitness isn't too good but glad to say she appears a bit mature for her age in the way she plays like a thinking player; perhaps it has to do with her idol being Sherlock Holmes.
What a final for He Binjiao, practically a masterful performance for one so young to win her maiden title, the Viet Open GP, (not counting the junior championships) in only her 3rd tournament, after the KOR Open GPG and the CHN Open PSS, at the start of her budding career ! My heartiest congratulations, He Bingjiao. Well done, JiaYou ! I urge CBA not to, unintentionally, slow down her momentum by not fielding her in enough international tourneys. This highly talented lass needs as much exposure as she can get to develop her game smoothly and fast and realize her huge potential. He BJ cuts a thick-set figure; she doesn't seem to move very fast but her court coverage is quite good and her smash is getting better though not yet a killer shot if I may say so but good enough to do the job for WS. The best part is, at such a young age, time is on her side, she can and will only grow from strength to strength. I've not the slightest doubt she will be a reliable asset to the CHN National Team in good time.
For me, another point worth noting is that He BJ despite a hefty lead over Hera Desi, esp in G2, at the Viet GP final, didn't let up but continue to pile on the pressure to outclass her opponent in two straight sets, 21-10 and 21-6. This bodes well for her self-assurance and self-control; remarkable, a healthy sign of maturity , for someone so young at age 16. I'm beginning to wonder, if only she had been introduced to the international stage two years ago at age 14 when she was first discovered - where would she be today?! Just musing.
I am very impressed with her. The CBA should pay special attention to her training. Does anyone know when she is playing again? The WJC I presume. I dont agree with keeping her away from playing with the seniors. She has already beaten quite a few of them. Go out there and challenge the best of the world. thats the best form of experience.
He Bingjiao, my heartiest congratulations on winning Nanjing Youth Olympic Gold ! And for doing so by beating of all persons, Akane Yamaguchi, the twice and reigning WJC, a child prodigy who has already made waves at the senior level such as winning the JPN Open SS'13 and taking some notable scalps including Intanon Ratchanok. Winning the Youth Olympics is as good as winning the WJC, maybe more precious for being rarer as a quadrennial event. May you rise atop the badminton world one day. JiaYou !
He Bingjiao was impressive. Her attacking slices are good, her movement is great, her balance is great, her defense is remarkable. But what really makes her special is her mind. She seems like a very thinking player, and is quite deceptive in using all 4 corners of the court. Akane had to run out so much to chase He's shots. HBJ used her trademark hold and flick to all 4 corners. She may very well be a future World #1. As for her weaknesses, she needs to put that jump smash away. I felt like she gave away several points trying to do a fancy jump smash instead of just using a standard smash. She needs to work on her serve as well, her serve can be quite erratic. Some are right into the net, some are too high and get killed right away. She could probably afford to improve her stamina a little, but I think that'll come with time.
Well done the coaches for improving her mental and physical attributes. In her last match against AY, the WJC 2014, she showed that she had a lot of catching up to do to match AY.This continued in the matches she played since the 2014 WJC . But what a change. she was confident of her shot making, her defence was superb and most importantly her reading of the game was uncanny. She has improved her fitness as well. But what impressed me most of all was she thanked her opponent first before running off to celebrate. Great attitude for one so young. Well done HBJ and the coaches. And lets not forget AY as well for her attitude and sportsmanship and for such a wonderful match. Lets hope we can see both of them in the near future.
He Bingjiao could have wrapped it up a little faster if only her service was more convincing and less error prone which I think allowed her opponent Akane to creep back in the game several times. Akane could read He's short (and rather loose) service quite well and would prowl with an offensive mode each time when returning her service. Fortunately for He B J, Akane is a relatively short player with a short reach. Else, Akane could have really put enormous pressure and shake He's mental confidence before her every serve. Kudos to He BJ in the end for her perseverance and never-say-die attitude, but her fitness and service needs to be perfect hereon.
Right, I've been wanting to say He BJ had better be more alert when serving low and improve on it; once too often it either finds the net or goes a bit too high allowing her opponent to put it away. I was thinking at first that it was due to the big occasion and nerves that made her careless - in that regard Akane was wiser to serve high most of the time. Anyway, I believe this problem is one-off and should be easily corrected. As for her jump-smash, that's her trademark shot. Imho, jump-smash is meant to give one a steeper angle, more threatening, necessary from the backline, not intended to be fanciful, therefore I strongly feel she should work on it to perfection. The jump-smash can at times be turned into a disguised steep-angled drop shot to catch the opponent off-guard but, no matter what, you must be prepared for the return shot, esp when you do a x-court and have to cover the long diagonal.
The story at Bitburger Open is not complete without the mentioning of my other player to watch. At Bitburger Open, He BingJiao solidified her reputation as a talented shot maker with a rich display of badminton techniques. Although her tactics may still be simplistic, her racket skills rival the best in the game. Of her matches at Bitburger Open, the one against the fast rising Zhang BeiWen may be the most fascinating: [video=youtube;tJKu-lh0QW4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJKu-lh0QW4&list=PL0qOoxVup5gxknfS6ioy-DLCFgpsO5A4-&index=20[/video] Also, if you missed the WS final at the Youth Olympic Games, you should catch it here (WS Final starts at one hour and sixth minute): [video=youtube;UvPtNEsS-lg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvPtNEsS-lg[/video]
After watching the He BJ vs Sun Yu's match again, I noticed the precocious talent HBJ was already panting in G1 esp after punishing rallies, much more so than SY, despite winning the opening set. It became obvious that HBJ was slowing down in both attack and defence in G2 and G3 as well as becoming more erratic. I venture to say that HBJ's defeat to SY can be mainly attributed to her lack of fitness and stamina though her opponent also stepped up her game. Allow me to urge HBJ to work harder on her physical training even as she continues to perfect her skills.
Given how "boring" Sun Yu Plays, the pressure that Sun Yu exerts on her opponents can easily go unnoticed. With Sun Yu's height and quickness, her opponents just have to be much more precise in their execution. While not as obviously as running around, thinking and focusing to be more precise can drain a lot of energy too. Sun Yu has been a notorious slow starter. But looking back, it seems that is just her strategy to absorb pressure early, wait out the opponents' peak and then step up the attack in the latter part of the match. Remember that at the YOG, HBJ was able to go toe-to-toe with AK whose endurance is as good as anyone, I don't think HBJ's fitness level is a particular problem. In time, she is going to get stronger and finish those rallies earlier with more lethal attacks. Fitness level will be even less of an issue for her.
At the Nanjing YOG, I also noticed something rare or unexpected from Akane Y who was breathing more heavily than usual as the match wore on with He BJ. It was a grueling, high quality match between the two young talents, a final worthy of any tournament even at the senior level. True in that spectacular face-off,He BJ was able to hold on to the end, a tough close-fought three-setter, as far as her fitness level is concerned. But in the Bitburger GPG with Sun Yu, He BJ appeared more tired and sluggish than SY, that's why I am worried about her stamina and endurance at the senior tournaments. Hope you're right, RedShuttle, about He BJ's fitness level not being a real issue and that she will get stronger and able to finish her rallies shorter with her devastating offensive game. He BJ's attacking play is such a joy to watch as compared with the relatively 'boring' attacking game of SY's.
Congratulations to HBJ for her first GPG title! The other finalist was her provincial teammate and CBSL club-mate. So there was little drama for the win. She will play again in Auckland in two weeks time. The field there is not very strong. Let's if HBJ can make it two in a row. In her last seven outings prior to China Masters, He BingJiao lost to Han Li twice, and once to each of Sun Yu, Nozomi Okahara, Akane Yamaguchi and Liang XiaoYu. He BingJiao does not seem to have her act together for senior competition yet. But at 18 years young, time is still on her side. [video=youtube;Zb_S1jUlOTI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zb_S1jUlOTI[/video]
IMHO, He Bingjiao is favourite in upcoming Skycity New Zealand GPG, and rise 30 more positions in WS ranking. Her level is top 15, beyond doubt.
After the semi-final, He BingJiao said that she was nervous but Aya Ohori was more nervous and Ohori could have played better. The table was turned in the final and HBJ was more nervous and could certainly have played better. HBJ had the wrong mindset from the start. She was overconfident and tried to blow Saena Kawakami off the court early but Kawakami was resilient and gave nothing away. HBJ got far behind from the blowback. She never recovered from that setback and was nervous through out the game. Both players will remember this match for a long time. For Saena Kawakami, this was an unbelievable achievement that should give her confidence and strength for years to come. For He BingJiao, this is a painful, hard-learned lesson that will remind her how to handle herself on court. [video=youtube;dK-_LOA00QM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dK-_LOA00QM[/video]
If He Bingjiao has played as many tournaments as her peer Akane Yamaguchi, she would have gained the much-needed exposure and enough experience to be considerably less nervous as she claimed she was whether on semifinals or finals days; after all, the NZ GPG is not a major team championship where she has to carry the nation's hopes. She might be overconfident in the 1st set but would most certainly be worried and played with more sense of urgency at the start of the second. Personally,I feel her fitness is really suspect, a serious drawback esp when facing a strong, tenacious retriever as evident when at one point after a not particularly long but punishing rally, she was holding her stomach in discomfort visibly and bent double while panting heavily. Not only HBJ herself but her coach too, I believe they would draw the right lessons from this defeat as well as the earlier one at the CHN IC where she was summarily beaten by Nozomi Okuhara, another very capable retriever and skillful player. As long as she is willing to work hard and learn and has the right attitude she will go far with her talents. For a dynamic attacking player like her, fitness becomes even more important, vital. IMHO, without sufficient fitness, it's useless to talk about tactics. If possible, she could train with Wang Shixian,a superb retriever, to help her build up endurance and the ability to keep attacking and pile on the pressure until breaking point without sacrificing too much accuracy and becoming erratic or turn wobbly easily. At her present age of 18,still quite young and in the formative stage of her career, I cannot expect her to be steady and composed, a trait which I can only hope she develops or acquires as she matures and accumulates experience. To do this, there is no other way than to compete actively and regularly in as many tournaments as possible even if it means suffering a couple of hard knocks which can only strengthen her if she is meant for great things.
