Source: Oriental Image/Stringer
[Saba Sports News] After a six-year wait, Chinese player Cai Yanyan has once again claimed the World Badminton Federation Tour championship, becoming a hot topic among fans on China’s largest badminton forum. Born in 1999, Cai Yanyan is a women’s singles player trained by the Beijing Badminton Team and a contemporary of Tokyo Olympic women’s singles gold medalist Chen Yufei. The same year that Chen Yufei won the World Junior Championships women’s singles title, Cai Yanyan also won the mixed team championship with the Chinese team. Around 2018, the Chinese women’s singles badminton faced difficulties with the retirements of Wang Shixian and Wang Yihan, and Li Xuerui’s serious injury, leading to an 8-month drought without a championship at the BWF Super Series. It was Cai Yanyan who broke this championship drought by winning her first BWF Tour championship at the Australia Open, defeating her opponents one by one. At the end of 2021, Cai Yanyan suffered a serious left knee ACL tear while training in Chengdu. During surgery, doctors cut away a small portion of the remaining ligament and reattached it, which is almost a devastating injury for badminton players. Due to this injury, Cai Yanyan stayed away from the competition for more than a year; she still wears a brace on her left knee during matches. However, Cai Yanyan did not bow to fate. After relentless effort, she finally won the women’s singles championship at the 2024 Guwahati Badminton Masters, breaking a six-year championship drought in international competitions and creating an inspiring story of rebirth.