Beijing: The Chinese national badminton team had several players celebrate their birthdays in February and on March 1.
Those players were Du Yue (Feb 15), He Jiting (Feb 19), Zhou Haodong (Feb 20), Zheng Siwei (Feb 26), Huang Yaqiong (Feb 28), Shi Yuqi (Feb 28), Zhang Nan (March 1), and Chen Yufei (March 1).
The Chinese Badminton Association’s official social media account had sent birthday wishes to all players above, except Shi Yuqi.
Does it mean Shi Yuqi’s status in the China national badminton team is at stake?
Birthday greetings from Chinese Badminton Association on Weibo:
Shi Yuqi’s controversial withdrawal at the 2020 Thomas Cup semi-finals between China and Japan had damaged his once-promising badminton career. Shi lost to Japan’s Kento Momota 20-22 in the first game of the first men’s singles match, and when Momota reached the match-point at 20-5 in the second game, Shi decided to withdraw from the match.
He then made another foolish remark after the match, saying
“Technically I didn’t lose a match today, because it’s a retirement.
Basically, I didn’t lose the second game, the score was not 21. It didn’t matter.”
His unsportsmanlike conduct had caused heated discussions from badminton fans worldwide.
Some fans said if he retired due to illness, he should have quit earlier, not until the math point.
Although China was able to beat Japan 3-1 in the semi-finals, obviously, the Chinese coaches were unhappy with Shi’s conduct on the court and his comments after the match, they’ve rested him the next day, and China eventually lost to Indonesia 0-3 in the final.
Since then, Shi has not been playing in any international tournaments, and according to Chinese media, he has been sent back to the Jiangsu province team. He was not registered for the 2022 German Open, All England, and Swiss Open, not sure if he will come back to international tournaments any time soon.
