What makes the Chinese world beaters in badminton?

“Competitive sport is war without gunfire.” That’s how Fan Hong, a Chinese national swimmer and later academic, described Beijing’s attitude toward gold medals. That’s Chinese sport in a nutshell. Having played competitive badminton for over two decades, I have realised that when the Chinese compete they mean business. With the extraordinary success they’ve enjoyed in the sport, one could surely not refute that. In the team competitions, 8 Sudiraman Cup victories, 4 straight Thomas Cup victories since 2004 and 6 Uber Cup victories since 1998 is proof enough that they have a stronghold on the sport. This is apart from the 54 World Championship titles – with clean sweeps of winning all 5 titles the last two years – and several titles at open tournaments and the Olympics. Therefore everytime one played a Chinese, their reputation preceded them. It almost seemed like a forgone conclusion that they were better than the rest. The numbers in which they used to mount their attack were not encouraging either. I recall, in the late 1990’s, there almost seemed no respite from them – amongst the world top-eight in women’s singles, the top four ranks were occupied by Chinese from China, then a Chinese representing Hong Kong, one from France, another from Germany and then one from Netherlands, all of whom trained in the Chinese national centres at some point in time. It really killed one’s confidence. So what made them so formidable over the years? What was so special about the Chinese system of training? Well, one would never really know as the Chinese have always been very secretive about their training. We know that in China there are more than 3,000 government-run sports schools, 20 major programs and 200 smaller programs that have produced nearly all of China’s Olympic athletes. The National Training Centre in Beijing is comprised of a number of large buildings, some modern, some drab. Guards check the IDs of people entering the facility and  they are posted outside each building. However, what we do not know is what exactly goes on in these facilities. It is rumoured that the Chinese are insecure about their physiques – especially when compared to those of the western world. However they pride themselves on the fact that they can work harder than anyone else. The children enrolled in the badminton sports schools are made to train about 10 hrs a day – surely harder than anyone else. Some burn out, some get injured, some can’t keep up and the remaining minority of 2-5%, well, become the champions we all know. India imported a Chinese coach in the early 1990s. He was here for a brief stint and imparted training in our national camp in Patiala. According to my seniors, the first couple of days the training was extremely hard and technically complex compared to what they had experienced. And the coach admitted it this was only basic level training. But, all the players coming out of that brief training showed a marked improvement in their performance. Also, the Chinese coach back then saw promise in Gopi Chand who was one of the trainees. Then an unproven junior, Gopi took inspiration from this and his self confidence grew. There on, slowly but surely, Gopi went on to be one of the best players India has ever produced. [caption id=“attachment_72327” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“China’s Lin Dan, arguably the best ever badminton player. Reuters”]  [/caption] This is proof enough that the Chinese coaches are not only adept in setting training schedules and ensuring they are executed but also intelligent enough to identify talent and groom it. In fact Denmark, another badminton superpower, has had a Chinese coach assisting the national team for the last 22 years. Zhang Lianying, now the technical coach for Danish Badminton Association, provides personalised training according to the players’ individual strengths and potentials. And often a player will improve his or her techniques after each training session. During my training in Denmark, I saw Lianying giving the top players several multifeed drills and also advising them on how to play their chinese counterparts. This has surely assisted the Denmark, the only European country, to pose a threat to their Chinese counterparts. Peter Gade, former All England winner and World No. 3 admitted, “Lianying is undisputably the best coach I ever have had. It’s because of him that I can constantly develop my moves and my net games. Moreover, I am impressed that he has trained our elite players not only in one way. He is a master at finding each player’s strength and making them even better. Therefore, every Danish singles player has his or her own style.” Coming from a badminton legend like Gade, this says a lot. As it is not possible to get inside China and experience their training system, we can only sample it every now and then. Through it all it is clear that China sets the pace when it comes to international badminton. The other nations are envious of the Chinese successes and years down the line are still unclear about what makes them so consistently special. To put it simply, the Chinese system has a lot of raw material in terms of really young talent willing to make the sacrifices necessary to become champions. At the national training centres, these aspirants develop special qualities necessary for high level performances. Agreed the training, that integrates research and practical application, is grueling but the Chinese have developed their own set of systems that seem to work for them. They seem to have found the winning formula. As they say, be yourself – no one can say you are doing it wrong. In this case, they not only being themselves but beckoning the rest of the world to follow suit.