Source:REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq
[Saba Sports News] Recently, the Badminton World Federation (BWF) published the latest world rankings on its official website. Three Chinese players appeared in the men’s singles top ten: Shi Yuqi, Li Shifeng, and Weng Hongyang. It is worth noting that the last time Chinese men’s singles badminton achieved this was on August 2, 2018. In last week’s world rankings, Weng Hongyang rose to 11th place after winning the China Masters, just one step away from the top ten. Although Weng Hongyang did not reach the semifinals at last week’s Korea Open, his individual ranking points increased from 64,000 to 65,440, surpassing Japanese star Naraoka Kodai and breaking into the world top ten for the first time. Shi Yuqi and Li Shifeng maintained their rankings at first and fourth, respectively, unchanged from the previous week. This creates the encouraging scene of “three stars shining together” in the men’s singles top ten this week. World rankings reflect strength to some extent, and Chinese men’s singles badminton has indeed performed impressively this season. Besides Shi Yuqi winning the World Championships and three Super 1000 titles, from mid-July to late September; he, Li Shifeng, and Weng Hongyang consecutively won five tournaments: the Japan Open, China Open, World Championships, Hong Kong China Open, and China Masters. Together, they achieved a glorious five-tournament winning streak – a rare and spectacular feat in Chinese men’s singles badminton in recent years.