Wang Zhiyi 王祉怡

Wang Zhiyi 王祉怡
Age 20
Born 29/04/2000
from Shashi, Jingzhou, in Hubei province, PRC.

Yes, I'm getting ahead of myself by opening a dedicated thread to Wang Zhiyi, but kindly grant me this indulgence , especially after watching how she performed in the just-concluded China National Championships 2020, both the Team and Individual events. Most notably, in my opinion, the way she acquitted herself against none other than Chen Yufei, not once but twice, merits both our recognition and approval.

True, she has yet to capture any coveted or prestigious world-class titles, so far only a few low-tier international championships to her name, such as the BWF World Tour events, viz., one Super 300, two Super 100 , and several BWF International Challenge/Series. However, I am fairly confident we will be seeing a lot more of her in the international scene and, quite possibly, mounting the winners-rostrum now and then once the global Covid-19 pandemic is more or less brought under control, possibly early or mid-next year when international competition is expected to resume.

As I've said above, in particular, her two remarkably well-fought and relentless struggle against her famous senior compatriot, the current world-ranked number two in the world (previously WR1), Chen Yufei, certainly convinced me of her undoubted talent and substantive potential to rise through the ranks and be counted among the world's very best in women's singles in the foreseeable future, I very much hope so.

The said two matches that Wang Zhiyi had with Chen Yufei that bowled me over - the first was in the team event played under the 21-point scoring system was a grueling 94 minutes three-setter, won by Wang Zhiyi, 22-20, 20-22,and 21-19; and the second was the individual women's singles title bout, another protracted struggle lasting 106 minutes based on the 11-point best-of-seven-set scoring system for which Chen Yufei succeeded in avenging her previous defeat by winning 4 sets to 2, the score being, 11-13, 8-11, 9-11, 11-9, 13-11, and 11-9 - can be found here:
https://weibo.com/tv/show/1034:4567586608971812?mid=4567593731759246 , the 21-point team event
and https://weibo.com/tv/show/1034:4569798160613389?from=old_pc_videoshow, the 11-point individual event. You might want to watch them and judge for yourself.

At the end of the individual event, both the Women's Singles Champion, Chen Yufei, and the Runner-up, Wang Zhiyi, weighed in on their respective worthy opponents during the post-match interviews as reported here https://sports.sina.com.cn/others/badmin/2020-11-11/doc-iiznctke0819138.shtml:-

Chen Yufei commented on Wang Zhiyi and the final match:" Quite an ordeal, especially draining up to G3, but you get used to it once past the extreme point." Playing against Wang Zhiyi, every match was tough, she added," her defense was very good, it was hard to break through, and she made very few unforced errors. I just have to be patient and rally more."

Wang Zhiyi's comments:" Both of us played very well today. I wasn't as good as her in terms of mentality, pace and the handling of crucial points. There is still a gap between her and me as far as overall experience is concerned and match-experience (how you deal with the match situation - Justin's interpretation)." In defeat, Wang Zhiyi admittedly pointed out the disparity between Chen Yufei and herself, but through one confrontation after another, she also felt she has made progress. " I think I have improved in both offensive and defensive aspects. In the past, once she upped the pace, I might not be able to catch up with her; now I'm able to match up, and can resist her attack."

 

Incidentally, from what I've gathered, Wang Zhiyi en route to the WS Final beat Han Yue in the QF by 3 - 0 (as the Quarterfinals was based on the best of 5 sets 11-point scoring system) and eliminated Zhou Meng in the semis by 4 - 0 (the Semis was based on best of 7 sets 11-point scoring system) while Chen Yufei accounted for Cai Yanyan's defeat in the other semis by 4 - 1.

Besides singling out Wang Zhiyi for praise, Chen Yufei also complimented Tan Ning, her team final opponent, for her attacking game.

By the way, you might like to know that this is Chen Yufei's second China National women's singles title, her first was four years ago at the age of 18, after that she didn't participate in the next three annual events until this year's championship; that is, two titles out of two such tournaments played.

 

I agree with Sumanth99 that Wang Zhiyi should try to play a bit more aggressively as it's obvious she is stronger in defense than attack at the moment.

In passing, Tan Ning is somewhat overly aggressive, often too eager to finish off the rally; in her case, she should be more patient, rally a bit more and wait for the right moment to attack. Then as she improves her game with age and experience, she can gradually increase her aggression by adjusting her game to the right balance that suits her style.

 

Oops, thanks, corrected.

 

You're right, I've even forgotten about it - Wang Zhiyi beat Akane Yamaguchi 17-21,21-11 and 26-24 in their only encounter so far at the INA Masters on 6th January, and is level with Intanon Ratchanok one match apiece in two meetings both in January this year with WZY taking the first one 19-21, 21-11 and 22-20 on Jan 9 at the MAS Masters, and IR the second one 21-12 and 22-20 on Jan 18 at the INA Masters.

Btw, Wang Zhiyi also bested Sayaka Takahashi 21-19 and 21-11 at the same INA Masters. Incidentally, these are the only two BWF World Tour events WZY played, both Super 500 tournaments in 2020 before the global pandemic halted further international competition after the All England which she wasn't qualified to play as it was a Super 1000 event.

Such results certainly bode well for the up-and-coming Wang Zhiyi going forward.

 

She participated All England 2020, lost two straight-games to the reigning Olympic Champ.

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Oh, I see, it wasn't reflected in another website that I came across, so I assumed she didn't play there. Thanks.

 

Let's say Wang Zhiyi is on the cusp of a breakthrough, of being a star, in my opinion. Time will tell.

 

Yes, Li Xuerui , born 24 Jan 1991, was phenomenal around age 20, an mazing winning streak all the way to her London Olympic gold at 21 in her maiden appearance, simply unstoppable.

Unfortunately, thereafter she failed to live up to her fearsome reputation and disappointed in one after another major championships, both the World titles and Olympics, which I attributed mainly to her lack of mental toughness and bad luck (injury at the Rio'16 Olympics).

I agree to consider An Se Young, now age 18, the benchmark for any of her contemporaries, say for those 21 and under, as they will largely be in the same era, for example, Wang Zhiyi (20), Han Yue, Cai Yanyan, Kim Ga Eun, Gregoria Mariska Tunjung, Yeo Jia Min, Phittayaporn Chaiwan (19), just to name these few. At the moment, An SY is the most impressive, admittedly, except that child prodigies tend to rise and peak early compared with the normal or typical player, which means we may not be comparing apples to apples when we just take age into account. Remember, Intanon Ratchanok was the youngest singles world champion ever at age 18 years, 6 months and 6 days.