Cover Revealed! Shi Yuqi: Striding Against the Wind, Never Stopping

Jayce September 6, 2024 2 0

After ten months of silence, Shi Yuqi returned and in six open tournaments, he brought back two championships and reached the semi-finals once. After 1316 days of waiting, it was a touching championship moment – his first Super 750 title in three years, Shi Yuqi finally emerged from the dark nights. Away from the international arena for ten months, he returned to the starting point of his badminton career, gaining maturity and determination through refinement.

Shi Yuqi

The return journey was filled with anxiety but no retreat. Before stepping onto the court, Shi Yuqi was determined to give it his all. He knew that all confusion and uncertainty would find answers, unwilling to be mediocre, bravely taking the lead. He turned his uniqueness into a weapon, like fans joking that Shi Yuqi’s head, even if not a no-fly zone, was a restricted area, tearing through opponents with relentless jumps. Shi Yuqi knew that there would always be surprises waiting for him behind bravery.

Ten Months of Reforging

Away from the international arena for ten months, Shi Yuqi returned to the Nanjing Sports Institute. It was a place he knew so well, where he could pinpoint the location of everything in the gym with his eyes closed. However, the figures running on the court now were not the batch he used to know. Looking at juniors born in 2005 and 2006, Shi Yuqi called these peers nearly 10 years younger than him “kids,” and the self-awareness of being “a senior” silently fell upon him.

Shi Yuqi

Training with sixteen and seventeen-year-olds, Shi Yuqi often had to face three against one to increase the intensity of his training. During practice with juniors, he joked that he might seem a bit pretentious and reserved, “but it’s okay, I’m still quite down-to-earth.” In training sessions, his every move would attract the attention of juniors, and gradually, as a role model, the “senior” and “kids” quickly became familiar. Every time Shi Yuqi played 1v2 with juniors, he would diligently feed each ball. Of course, as the undefeated record holder of 1v2 in the provincial team, after every victory, Shi Yuqi actively participated in penalty games.

During his ten months back in Nanjing, Shi Yuqi temporarily withdrew from consecutive tournaments. Unlike the anxiousness after his previous injury, this time, the ban allowed him to re-examine himself.

For Shi Yuqi, who has undergone three surgeries, including right elbow deprivative osteochondritis in the provincial team training and congenital peroneal tendon dislocation after the Youth Olympics, as well as the left ankle lateral collateral ligament tear in the Olympic points competition. For a long time, every time he woke up, there would be new symptoms on his body. Those days shackled Shi Yuqi, whose skies were gray, and he didn’t know how to let go. He has hated the heavens for not being kind to him, thinking about the imminent Olympics and his future, his emotions were always particularly fragile and irritable.

Shi Yuqi

In this self-struggle and confusion, Shi Yuqi stepped onto the Olympic stage in Musashino Forest, Tokyo. There may be regrets, but being able to participate in the Olympics was already commendable. Later, there was a 21-day quarantine, and after enough rest, he won the men’s singles championship at the Shaanxi National Games. Looking back at the 2017 Tianjin National Games, when he was still a rookie, he lost to Lin Dan in the final; four years later, he finally hung the heaviest men’s singles gold medal in the country around his neck.

After that, as a solo player in the national feather, he had to complete the task of scoring for the Sudirman Cup and Thomas Cup in a compact schedule. At the Sudirman Cup, Shi Yuqi swept Kento Momota 2-1 like a whirlwind, making a great contribution to the national feather. During the interval, he was seen gasping for breath on his bag, especially memorable. However, a week later, he took the stage again, and his irrational behavior at the critical moment pushed Shi Yuqi to the forefront, and in the end, the penalty for reforming the provincial team was also issued.

Spending time with young teammates, Shi Yuqi would think of himself back then and the true growth that badminton had brought him along the way. The detours taken to play, the injuries suffered, the pain of wandering in the trough, and the moments of decisive victory that are still exciting to this day, “unable to get out of injury” he understands that he is actually more reluctant to play. Back in the province, he cherished the days of self-improvement in this seemingly simple and unremarkable period.

Shi Yuqi

During last year’s Spring Festival, Shi Yuqi rarely took a break. It was the first time in many years that he had stayed at home for two extra days, and it was also the first time he experienced the lively Spring Festival. The company of his parents made him feel like a child again. At that time, the whole country was focused on the Beijing Winter Olympics, and Shi Yuqi was no exception, following the schedule for a few days of competition.

In May, Shi Yuqi arrived at the Jinjiang Badminton Training Base with his mentor Sun Jun. This return to the team meant that he would return to the international arena soon. Before departure, Sun Jun asked him more than once if he was prepared to return, because this time Shi Yuqi was no longer a solo return, and this time, Sun Jun also took over as the chief coach of the men’s singles group that needed to be rebuilt.

As the head coach of the Jiangsu Badminton Team, Sun Jun often came to the national team before major international competitions as a member of the expert group to train and provide psychological guidance to Shi Yuqi. From the Thomas Cup in Bangkok in 2018 to the World Championships in Nanjing, to the Sudirman Cup in Nanning in 2019, and before the Tokyo Olympics, Sun Jun never missed a major competition before Shi Yuqi’s training camp. Today, under the full support of his family, Sun Jun and Shi Yuqi have returned to the national team, injecting a strong heart into the men’s singles group that is in the doldrums.

Shi Yuqi

From the bottom of his heart, “I want to play badminton”

On August 22, 2022, Shi Yuqi, who had been silent for ten months, was released ahead of schedule. Facing the World Championships that had been absent for four years, Shi Yuqi knew how much he longed for this opportunity.

In the first match against Azerbaijan’s No. 80 player Rashad Jauf, Shi Yuqi’s adaptation speed was obviously inferior to his opponent’s at the start, trailing 9-14 at one point. However, relying on superior personal ability, he launched a counterattack after adjustment, turning the passive situation around, and even fought back at the end of the game, saved match points, and won the first game 22-20. In the second game, Shi Yuqi did not give his opponent any chance and easily won 21-10.

In the second game, Shi Yuqi took the rare opportunity to play on Court 1, facing Denmark’s third singles player Kim Gock. The two had not faced each other for three years, and the last time they fought was at the Fuzhou Open in 2019, when Shi Yuqi, who was not yet healed, retired after losing the first game 10-21. This time, Shi Yuqi took the initiative after leading 10-9 in the first game, scoring seven consecutive points to establish an advantage and win the game 21-13. The situation in the second game was similar, with Shi Yuqi scoring eight consecutive points after 10-8, and finally winning 21-16 to advance to the top half of the quarterfinals.

In the third round, Shi Yuqi faced a real rival – old opponent Anthony Sinisuka Ginting of Indonesia. Previously, Shi Yuqi had won six consecutive games against Ginting, but the last time they met was three and a half years ago at the Swiss Open. In this battle, Ginting took the lead after the start and won 21-10 in the first game. Subsequently, Shi Yuqi won 21-13 to equalize. In the decisive game, Shi Yuqi led 18-15 in the later stage, but Ginting won six consecutive points at this time, achieving the first victory in his career against Shi Yuqi.

When Shi Yuqi left the field, fans on the sidelines encouraged him firmly: “Shi Yuqi, cheer up next time!” This one-hour eight-quarterfinal battle made Shi Yuqi find the long-lost excitement, “the opponent is faster than me, I should say much faster.” Players who return to the game always need more tough battles to find the feeling of the game, and Shi Yuqi actively absorbed the rules from the first stage of the game from poor to good. “Always working hard, some changes started in the second game,” “(in the field) to run faster, to be simpler in thought, not to think too much” “because I was already behind, and more effort to take more points is one point.”