Chen Yufei of China competes in the badminton women's singles round of 32 against Zoraida Dela Torre Costa Gusmao de Jesus of Timor-Leste at the Hangzhou Asian Games, Oct 3, 2023. (PHOTO / XINHUA)
Back-to-back team losses in badminton and table tennis at the Asiad have exposed China's vulnerability in racket sports it once dominated, with athletes' lack of grit and grind raising concerns ahead of Paris 2024.
As Kim Ga-eun jumped into the celebrating pack of South Korean players following a decisive win in the women's team final against China, her opponent He Bingjiao was inconsolable, looking up at the roof to stem the flow of tears in front of a deflated home crowd at Binjiang Gymnasium in Hangzhou.
A shocking 3-0 defeat, with two singles and one doubles loss, all in straight games, on Sunday delivered a harsh wake-up call for Team China: Now the women's squad is also on the wane following the decline of the men's program.
World No 1 An Se-young got South Korea off to a strong start by beating reigning Olympic champion Chen Yufei in style in the first singles rubber, followed by a surprising doubles win for Baek Ha-na and Lee So-hee over China's top-ranked duo Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan.
Kim then held off a battling He in a 70-minute slugfest to clinch South Korea's first women's team gold at the Asiad in 29 years.
An Se-young of South Korea hits a return against Chen Yufei of China during the badminton women's team final at the Hangzhou Asian Games on Oct 1, 2023. (PHOTO / XINHUA)
It was a second straight loss for the Chinese women's team against South Korea at a major tournament following a 3-2 defeat at last year's Uber Cup final in Thailand.
The return to the continental throne in Hangzhou will motivate his team to push even harder to fight for more glory at next summer's Paris Olympics, said South Korea head coach Kim Hak-kyun.
"This win is thanks to the determination, mentality and unity of our players," said the former two-time Olympian. "They are at their peak, but we are still moving forward and our target is beyond Asia and looking at the Olympics."
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Since a dominant run of five team golds from 1998 to 2014, China's women have endured a nine-year title drought at the Asiad, beaten by Japan in 2018, with a lack of mental toughness from key players such as Chen and He often costing China in clutch moments.
Home-court advantage turned into a heavy burden on Sunday, with the Chinese players feeling the weight of expectations on their shoulders, according to singles coach Xia Xuanze.
"Because we are playing at home, in an event that happens just every four years, of course we faced a lot of pressure," said the 2003 men's world champion. "At key moments we couldn't grasp our opportunities, our athletes wanted it too much to play at their best."
Chen Qingchen (rear) and Jia Yifan of China compete against Chiharu Shida and Nami Matsuyama during their women's team semifinal at the Hangzhou Asian Games, Sept 30, 2023. (PHOTO / XINHUA)
The main takeaway for China's world No 2 singles ace Chen was her lack of adaptability under pressure.
"Mentally I have a lot of work to do," she said.
"When things didn't go my way, I kind of got stuck and couldn't get the best out of myself, nor could I adapt to my opponent's style. I need to toughen up quickly for next year's Olympics," said the 25-year-old native of Hangzhou.
At last month's world championships in Denmark, Team China bagged only one gold, in women's doubles, from five events, to bring home its thinnest haul from the tournament in recent years.
Chen said the Chinese players are determined to rebuild their confidence in this week's singles and doubles competitions.
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Sun Yingsha (right)/Wang Manyu of China compete during the Women's Doubles Quarterfinal of Table Tennis between China and Japan at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang province, Sept 30, 2023. (PHOTO / XINHUA)
Ping pong flop
The women's table tennis team served up an even bigger disappointment, with the team's two doubles pairs failing to earn China a semifinal berth for the first time in Asiad history.
Japan's Miwa Harimoto and Miyuu Kihara landed the first blow by stunning world No 3 pair Sun Yingsha and Wang Manyu, 3-1, in the first quarterfinal. About an hour later the Hangzhou tournament witnessed arguably the biggest upset in table tennis doubles history.
To the shock of a full house at Gongshu Canal Sports Park Gymnasium, unheralded Indian duo Sutirtha Mukherjee and Ayhika Mukherjee subdued China's world No 2 pair Chen Meng and Wang Yidi 3-1 to secure the country's first-ever women's medal in table tennis at the Asiad.
The shock results sparked heavy criticism from fans and pundits alike in a country where table tennis is considered the unofficial national sport.
Japan's Miwa Harimoto (left)/Miyuu Kihara compete against Sun Yingsha and Wang Manyu of China during the table tennis quarterfinals at the Hangzhou Asian Games on Sept 30, 2023. (PHOTO / XINHUA)
"They should've prepared better and should've studied their opponents more no matter where they come from," table tennis legend Deng Yaping said of the Chen-Wang loss to the Indian pair.
"We're analyzed and studied all the time by the rest of the world. If anyone plays us, they play as an underdog with a relatively stress-free mindset, while we need to stay sharp facing all the challengers," said Deng, a four-time Olympic gold medalist who retired in 1997.
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With the rest of the world catching up fast, China's star paddlers need to approach their preparations for Paris 2024 with the utmost focus and without being distracted by their massive fan base and high-profile at home, Deng added.
