On the evening of September 22, the six-day China Badminton Open officially concluded, with the Chinese badminton team achieving four golds and two silvers.
Wang Chang from Zhejiang shared his thoughts on social media, summarizing the tournament. He expressed that both he and his partner always aim to win every match, but finishing healthily is no small feat. For fans concerned about the state of the Liang/Wang duo, he reassured them, saying, “Don’t rush us, we’re training every day.” This quickly became a trending topic.
Wang Chang posted the following message:
“Firstly, the China Open has ended, and I have a few reflections to share with everyone.
In our current state, we also hope to win every match. Finishing healthily is not just something we say. From the veterans to more recent players like Chen Long, Fu Haifeng, and Zhang Nan, many have played through injuries and kept fighting. They are all heroes, true heroes who have brought glory to the nation! Injuries are something every professional athlete deals with to some extent. All we can do is give our best effort to overcome them, which is a reflection of the sporting spirit.
Secondly, within the team, we dedicate ourselves to serving communism, following the team’s guidance and leadership, promoting sports and badminton. We hope to bring more people to love the sport, just like how many were inspired by Lin Dan, the Cai/Fu duo, and Chen Long to take up badminton. Lastly, for those asking about my routine, yes, I’ve been delayed for two rounds, but I’m back to regular training starting tomorrow (even when there’s no match, we’re still training every day, don’t rush us, don’t rush us, we train every day).”
The China Badminton Open was the first official tournament for the Liang/Wang duo after the Paris Olympics. After returning to China, they participated in various award ceremonies and interviews, as their popularity surged. Although they continued to train even during variety show appearances, it was more sporadic and lacked the systematic approach they had before.
The saying goes, “Skip one day of training, you notice; skip two, the coach notices; skip three, the whole team knows.” Before the China Open, Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang set their goal as “finishing healthily,” given their recent assessment of insufficient training. They first defeated the Popov brothers 2-0 to reach the round of 16, but then fell 1-2 (19-21, 21-18, 17-21) to Indonesia’s Fikri/Maulana, failing to reach the quarterfinals, which underscored their earlier concerns.
However, competitive sports are always judged by results. After their second-round exit, there was plenty of online criticism that the Liang/Wang duo was distracted by variety shows and business events. Wang Chang’s long post on social media serves as a response, gently reminding everyone that he is fully aware of the situation—”Don’t rush us, we’re training every day”—while also hinting that active athletes attending events help promote the sport of badminton.
