The group won the Olympic silver medal in two years. Guangzhou boy Liang Weihang's first Olympic journey was not perfect but precious.
2024-08-12
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Winning a silver medal in his first Olympic Games was not perfect, but precious enough for Guangzhou native Liang Weikeng. On August 5, Beijing time, in the mixed interview area after the men's doubles final of the Paris Olympics, Liang Weikeng said that this was a good experience and needed to be well summarized. His partner Wang Chang said that the silver medal was a milestone in their careers, but it also showed that they still had a lot of room for improvement.
Liang Weiheng and his partner Wang Chang started playing together in early 2022. At the beginning, they were only the fifth doubles in the team, but in just one year, the two rocketed from 444th to the top three in the world, and became the world's number one at the end of 2023. The two complement each other in playing style. Liang Weiheng is good at backcourt smashes, while Wang Chang is better at small balls in front of the net. As the younger generation, the two are also "comedians" in the team, and they are popular for their relaxed and funny feelings.
Liang Weikeng in the group is relatively taciturn and has been known as a "fat boy" since childhood. However, in order to prepare for the Olympics, he lost 10 kilograms in a few months, and his running flexibility and stability have improved. Yang Xinfang, head coach of the Guangzhou badminton team, specially followed the leaders of the Guangzhou Sports Bureau to visit the national badminton training camp in Chengdu before the Olympics. After returning, he told the Yangcheng Evening News reporter that "Akeng" is in very good condition. "This child is very obedient and simple. It is easier to do ideological work since he was a child. He is not the kind of child that gives the coach a headache. This time when I went to see him, I felt that he was mature and stable, very purposeful, knew what he should practice, and was very self-disciplined."
For this Olympics, Liang Weiqing put the word "Fu" on his golf bag and asked two-time Olympic men's doubles champion Fu Haifeng to sign on the bag, hoping for good luck.
After arriving in Paris, Liang Weiheng and Wang Chang did not even watch the opening ceremony. They continued to watch videos that night and prepared for the competition. After the start of the competition, the two won all the way and got off to a good start in the group stage, including defeating the first Malaysian badminton world championship champions, Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik. After another men's doubles pair, Liu Yuchen/Ou Xuanyi, were eliminated in the group stage, as the "only seedling" of the Chinese men's doubles, they also withstood the pressure. In the knockout stage, they first swept the Indonesian strong pair Alfian and Ardianto, and then defeated Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik in the semifinals to enter the final. Although they did not win the final, they fought hard for three games with the players from Chinese Taipei before losing by two points. For the young players, their performance is already good enough.
In an interview after the game, Liang Weikeng, who looked a little dejected, said that his opponents had made very thorough preparations. "In fact, we also had many opportunities to take the initiative, but their on-site rhythm and experience were better than ours. In the final critical moment, we made the first mistake." As for the gains from the first Olympic Games, Liang Weikeng said that whether it was the comeback in the second game or the failure to maintain the lead in the third game, it was a good experience for them.
Wang Chang beside them also said that there will be more finals waiting for them in the future: "It doesn't matter if we lose, we can try again. This Olympics is a new experience for us. From the perspective of results, we are happy to reach the finals. The silver medal is not only a milestone in our career, but also a driving force for the future. We have the strength to reach the finals and we have the strength to win. But this silver medal tells us that there are still many areas that need to be improved, and we will strive to give back to the country, coaches and fans with the best results."
For Guangdong badminton, Liang Weikeng's silver medal is extremely precious. He previously won the Sudirman Cup and Thomas Cup as a main player with the team, becoming the ninth badminton world champion in Guangzhou. Now he follows the footsteps of predecessors such as Fu Haifeng and steps onto the Olympic stage to win the silver medal. The 23-year-old Liang Weikeng still has a long way to go in the future, and there are many possibilities.
Text | Su Xing, Yangcheng Evening News special correspondent in Paris
Photo | Xinhua News Agency
