Jayce
For Feng Yanzhe, everything is just beginning. Dedication and ambition have enabled him to break through thresholds that seemed impossible to approach. For Huang Dongping, daring to break through yesterday’s glory unlocks new possibilities in the world she aspires to. Each breakthrough represents a self-renewal and a fresh start for them.
Therefore, within a limited time, they are unlocking unlimited possibilities. From the dazzling “honeymoon period” to the clouded “bottleneck period,” they discover surprises in their growth journey, just as life always hides many windows that connect yesterday and lead to tomorrow. With honest pursuit of dreams, only this pair known as the “Phoenix” can undergo rebirth.
The Gear of Destiny From Nothing to Something
It is well known that Huang Dongping is straightforward and fiery on the court, despite her height of 1.65 meters, she radiates a passion that seems to exceed 2 meters. Feng Yanzhe, born in the 2000s, on the other hand, is smart in his game and has a good temper, a well-behaved boy with a height of 1.95 meters whose formidable smashes on the court can be intimidating.
Once, it was hard to connect them. But with the updates and iterations of the Paris cycle, these two individuals, who have a height difference of 30 centimeters in the physical world, took their first joint appearance at the Denmark Open last year, and the gear of destiny then started this bidirectional journey where everything is possible.
In September last year, during a training session before the Denmark Open, Feng Yanzhe experienced Sister Huang Dongping’s fiery temper. At that time, everything was still undecided. During the joint practice, Feng Yanzhe unconsciously felt restrained standing behind Dongping. At that time, Dongping, without much thought, had high demands on the training quality, and when problems arose, she would point them out, sometimes getting impatient and even flaring up. This was a true portrayal of Feng Yanzhe and Huang Dongping in the initial stage. One side was an Olympic champion with extensive experience, while the other was a newcomer to the competitive scene with not much achievement. Regardless of seniority, achievements, experience, or others, they had not yet found a suitable position for each other.
Feng Yanzhe / Huang Dongping: Honest Pursuit of Dreams, the Phoenix Rebirth
In fact, every outstanding doubles pair needs time and communication to be polished. Even the Olympic champion pair “Huang Ya,” also repeated their harmony for several years before they had mutual trust. Even so, to move towards a better direction, doubles partners must have the same determined and unspoken trust. Therefore, Feng Yanzhe believes that as a complete newcomer, he has to learn to accept many things, force himself to move forward, and accept the continuous urging from the outside world.
Looking back, Feng Yanzhe fully accepted the way Huang Dongping made up for lessons with him. He would not dwell too much on emotions, but would always consider where his problems lay first. Even if sometimes a ball is lost, even if he didn’t touch the ball with his racquet, he would first consider whether he did not do well enough.
Xiao Feng said: “Before partnering with Lin Fangling of the same age, I actually spoke a lot. I would tell my partner how I played and how to cooperate. But with Sister Dongping as my partner, I changed from being an expresser to a listener because I know she has more experience and definitely more reason. So at first, I didn’t talk much, just listened.”
Huang Dongping has always been the diligent and self-aware person. At first, she didn’t know who would be her fixed partner in the future, but in accordance with her responsibilities as a senior, she would analyze the game and express her thoughts in detail after training and competitions. At the end of last year, facing an uncertain future, Dongping would run with Xiao Feng and wait for the return of her old partner “Duck Brother.” During that time, she hoped that “Duck Brother” would regain his form as soon as possible, but after “Duck Brother” returned from recuperation, things did not go as planned. The two of them who had spent seven years together had to face the parting of the crossroads.
During that period, Huang Dongping was very depressed, shedding tears in the warm-up hall for several days in a row. She didn’t expect herself to be so fragile, but in the world of competitive sports, there is always an invisible force pushing you to quickly enter the next stage. After all, opponents will not leave any room for you to recover everything.
Feng Yanzhe / Huang Dongping: Honest Pursuit of Dreams, the Phoenix Rebirth
With the instructions and blessings of “Duck Brother,” Huang Dongping and Feng Yanzhe began their sprint to Paris. Huang Dongping knows that she and Xiao Feng do not have plenty of time to slowly dig and carefully polish. The urgency is completely different from her and “Duck Brother’s” childhood “childhood.” Many Sundays later, Dongping would bring two breakfasts to the venue, and then they would spend the whole morning soaking up the venue, making up for the 1-on-1 route.
Huang Dongping said: “Thinking about starting over again, I was afraid. Because the process would definitely not make you too comfortable. Even if the final result was not what I wanted, thinking back to the process of fighting again with Xiaofeng would be thrilling. Although we have only been paired for more than half a year, we have encountered a lot of difficulties, from the big ups and downs in mentality to many times seemingly hopeless tour. Perhaps, it is these ups and downs that have made the hearts of the two of us tight together.”
Thomas Cup semifinal: A hurdle that cannot be avoided
In May this year, Huang Dongping and Feng Yanzhe made their debut in the Sudirman Cup against Egypt. After easily winning over their opponents, they looked forward to taking the field again to score points for the team. After the Chinese team won over Indonesia in the quarterfinals, mixed doubles head coach Yang Ming asked them in the warm-up hall: “Do you dare to play against Japan tomorrow?” “Of course I dare!” After the roster was confirmed in the evening, Dongping and Xiaofeng prepared for the potential lineup of the Japanese team. Because they knew that the East Crossing group of Japan was in a bad state, their second pair won a single debarba seiri, so they did a serious homework for japan’s second group Yama xiaoping/ghb after poin.
For Feng Yanzhe, the Sudirman Cup in Suzhou was a completely different state from the first time I played the Thomas Cup. At that time, although he was a group game, but the first time representing the Chinese team to play team matches would be very nervous, hardly sleeping the night before. Too much in mind, every kind of situation is rehearsed in the brain. But this semi-final Japan, although not as nervous as the first time, but a trace of concern for the soul.
