CHINA NATIONAL GAMES Individual – Xie Xingfang says farewell for good

Friday, 16 October 2009 10:35

Xie Xingfang was beaten in the Chinese National Games by Wang Lin for what appears to be her last appearance as a player on court. Lu Lan, world champion, was also ousted by a younger player in the quarter-finals.

By Timothy Chan, Badzine Correspondent. Photos: China Foto Press (live)

October 15th, 2009 will be a day to remember for Xie Xingfang - or not. It may prove to have been her last competitive match as the former world champion Xie Xingfang had announced that these China Games where going to be the last competition before retiring. And Xie could not end it on a golden but saddened note. On Thursday, she was knocked out by world no. 1 Wang Lin in the quarter-finals of the individual event in women’s singles. This made for a double disappointement as she had also missed out on the gold medal when her Guangdong team lost to Jiangsu in the women’s team event final.

xiefarewell2

After the Games, she will take a good break and rest. Having played top level badminton for so many years, she has sustained many injuries. As Xie has in some ways followed the footsteps of retired Zhang Ning, who is now a coach in the national team, the question to be asked now is whether the next batch of players perform well internationally as compared to Xie and Zhang. It is now up to Wang Lin, Lu Lan and Wang Yihan to take over the baton and excel from there and to contribute fruitfully to the national team. Xie said that these girls have all met the criteria to take over. Xie also said that they have improved and matured very fast. Xie’s boyfriend Lin Dan said that every player will have to retire and he respects her decision to retire. Whatever is her future endeavour, he will be there to support her.

Lu Lan out too

Xie's loss in the quarter-final wasn't the only thing to spot in Qingdao, as the current world champion Lu Lan was also ousted - in a more surprising way. Lu, who is turning 22 on Saturday, will have no more reasons to celebrate at this tournament as she stepped out of the court in tears after being beaten by Li Wen of Hubei 19-21, 17-21.

"It was too slow for me to enter my normal form," told Lu to Xinhua Press Agency. "I dearly wanted a win but I didn't prepare well for the match. It's really a big regret that I cannot do something after our success in team event. I had hoped to go as far as I could at the National Games but I never expected such an early loss."

The surprises went on later in the day, when Wang Shixian beat Wang Yihan and Liu Jian beat Wang Xin.

The semi finals will feature :
Wang Lin vs. Liu Jian
Li Wen vs. Wang Shixian

After a day of individual competition, the women’s singles and mixed have reached the semi-final stage to be played on Friday. It is still at the quarter-final stage for the men’s singles, men’s doubles and women’s doubles events.

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