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Journalism of Courage
Chen Long has a perfect set of Olympic medals. Bronze in 2012, Gold in 2016 and Silver in 2021. The affable Chinese champion wasn’t allergic to breaking into smiles, interacting with the crowd when he played, stayed remarkably rooted when he won, and barely frowned or snarled when he lost. A 36-year-old mustachioed coach now, he carries the same vibe into the group he is training, as one of China’s coaches in Guwahati, where the Badminton World Junior Championships is underway.
It’s not a tournament that the Chinese take easy though. Save for being ridiculously talented and acknowledged by their many tier screening systems as such, the World Juniors is that rare ticket to break into an insanely talented seniors cohort at the national camp. For several Chinese shuttlers, it can spell a career make-or-break.
Long won the World Juniors in 2007, and was good enough to win the senior World titles in 2014 and 2015, a turnaround of just 7 years with two Olympic medals thrown into the mix. It’s why he explains a brutal reality with delicacy. “It’s a great opportunity for them if they win gold,” he says, adding, “if not, they have a last chance. But it depends on how they perform in the future.” Nothing less than gold might be enough to break into that elite set-up at Shenzen’s ‘Sweet Spot’, the Chinese Badminton Association national training centre.
It’s cut-throat, but not as dire as myth-making makes it sound either. Over the years, the Chinese system has shown signs of getting gentler with who’s retained and who’s left behind. In informal conversations, Long also seems to hint that Chinese coaches like himself are increasingly looking for “hunger” in the juniors to play and get better rather than natural “skill”, which can come with its whimsy and wilting.
The likes of Shi Yuqi took their time to win senior Worlds and settle into that balance of loving the game enough to plunge obsessively into it. Chen Yufei openly spoke of mental health troubles and motivation issues after her Olympic title. And though the selection processes stay rigorous, that ambition to be an unfailing juggernaut, a powerhouse that never loses, doesn’t seem to strike as strident as it once did.
In the last 4 editions since 2019, China has won the mixed team title only once, with Indonesia taking the championship last time. In 20 editions of the team event, China had won the mixed team events 14 times, including five back-to-back between 2014 and 2018.
A rumoured steep budget cut from 2016 Rio onwards might have directly impacted the juniors as China failed to win five straight individual golds in men’s and women’s singles, including a no gold from 2017. In 2024, the highly rated Hu’Zhean won MS and went on to beat Loh Kean Yew and Lakshya Sen on the circuit, and Xu Wenjing picked the U19 women’s singles, China’s first since Chen Yufei was crowned World Junior Champion in 2016.
Almost all the big Chinese names – Gong Ruina, Chen Jin, Xie Xingfang (in doubles), Yihan Wang, Chai Biao-Liu Cheng, Chen Qingchen-Jia Yifan, Zheng Siwei, Liu Shengshu, Wang Chang – all Olympic medallists, minimum silver – have won the World juniors.
But China also compiled a long list of junior winners who couldn’t transition to senior success – Wang Zhengming, Tian Houwei, Lin Guipu and Sun Feixiang (all men’s singles World Junior champs since 2008), who just couldn’t break through on the seniors circuit. It might well have prompted a rethink on how they went about it all. Long remains their last singles champ in both juniors and seniors, and is uniquely placed as a coach to understand why things click or don’t.
“I’m very satisfied with the performance of the players to start the group stage, and we wish we have a big weekend,” he said after China wrapped up a win over Turkey, and set up a quarterfinal clash with Malaysia, who have seen a resurgence in their junior program. Xu Wenjing will be gunning for her first team title after individual gold last time, and is easily the next big star to emerge from China, the 17-year-old having beaten Top 10 Tomoka Miyazaki of Japan at Asian mixed team earlier this year.
She is what Long says leapfrogged many to get a seniors slot. “We choose from our national junior championships every year. If they exceed expectations, they go to seniors directly… if they are not, they stay in the junior team.”
China have warmed up to the new relay format of 45 point two sets. “The practice facilities are good and we are enjoying competing here. The new format – it’s new for everyone. Good challenge to try new things…we ll see in future how it works,” Long added.
After retiring post-2021, Long (who married fellow former World No 1 Shixian Wang) took his time to move to coaching. “After my playing career and retirement, I gave it a long consideration. I still felt enthusiasm for badminton. So I joined juniors as a coach to continue to work in the sport,” he said.
The Chinese are determined to go toe to toe with Indonesia, their arch-rivals across all five categories. “For Indonesia, badminton is national sport. For China, it’s almost the same. We choose players from different corners of the country and varied tournaments. We choose them one by one,” he stressed of the keen eye that their hundreds if scouts and provincial coaches are blessed with to push even those that don’t win early. Chinese scouting is legendary, and key to the seamless systems. “It’s good to maintain top level of performance,” he added.
Ask him about Chinese homework on Indian talent, and he says, “I have a very good opinion of Indian badminton, there are a few boys’ singles players we are tracking. In women’s singles, Sharma (Tanvi) has already played in finals in seniors. She has a very high level of performance already.”
