Chapter 11 5. It was the first time to win the British championship, and Super Dan spread all over the world

With the runner-up in Japan, I set off with the team to Jinjiang, Fujian with full confidence.We will be there for the summer 2003 World Championships in Birmingham for closed training. As everyone knows, when we set off, "SARS" had already ravaged the world, and the whole world fell into an indescribable panic.For this reason, the Birmingham World Championships had to be postponed again and again, and it was even rumored that it might be cancelled.In the restless waiting, I am always ready to meet my first World Championships. Because of "SARS", the management of the team is stricter than the usual closed training camp. The scope of activities is the training hall, canteen, and dormitory, and a leave must be issued when going out.But I don't find it particularly boring either.After passing the Japan station, I began to understand what I needed, and I was looking forward to the World Championships coming soon.

That summer, I practiced very hard, and I thought the results were good. I really wanted to show myself on the stage of the first World Championships.After procrastination, the World Championships finally started in Birmingham.Because of the "SARS" epidemic, the Chinese team did not participate in an international competition for three to three months, and the ranking dropped very significantly.My world ranking also fell to outside the 40th place, and I lost the qualification for the seed player of the World Championships. As a result, maybe it was fate, I met my teammate Xia Xuanze who had defeated me in Japan in the 16-to-8 match.In that game, I lost 0-2.The game ended early, and I wrote regrets for my first trip to the World Championships.

For this important battle, I prepared for so long and endured so much hardship, but I still lost. This is the game.But this kind of sadness, I can only keep it in my heart. After that, I witnessed Xia Xuanze defeating Bao Chunlai in the semi-finals, and finally won the final.Xia Xuanze was called "Big Mouth" in the team, and that was his first World Championship title. "Brother Zui" also taught me and Bao Chunlai a good lesson.And now, he has become the head coach of the Chinese Men's Singles and our "Summer Director". At the same time, Xiao Bao's top four results in the World Championships also deeply alerted me.We are both at the same age and entered the national team in the same batch. This kind of competition made it impossible for me to avoid it.It was also the first time to participate in the World Championships, he reached the semi-finals, and I didn't even enter the quarter-finals.I worry about my future again.

Soon, in October of that year, the Fifth National Urban Games (referred to as the "Five Cities Games") was held in Bao's hometown of Hunan.Xiao Bao and I represented the Xiamen team and the Changsha team respectively.The quadrennial City Games is the largest comprehensive youth sports meeting in China, and it is a review of the reserve forces of various provinces and cities. It is called the "Minor National Games".That year, Liu Xiang, Luo Xuejuan, Yi Jianlian, etc. also participated in the "Five Cities Meeting" with us. These people later became leaders in their respective fields.

But I didn't realize at the time that this could be a watershed moment in my career.All I know is that this is an incredible opportunity for me. In the team competition, the iron triangle formed by me, Gong Weijie, and Xie Xin won the men's team championship despite being unfavorable. But the men's singles match that followed was the real contest.Bao Chunlai and I went all the way to the final.As expected, we successfully met in the final. As a result, the game only played two rounds, and I won the championship 15-9, 15-12.We were 20 years old that year, and since then we have been struggling for eight or eight years.

After the "Five Cities Club", at the Danish Open in September of that year, I won my first Open championship under the 15-point system, and it was also the first time I won the top Open championship after a year and a half.In this Danish game, for the first time, I saluted the audience after winning a game.For a while, it even became my signature.However, I will only do this after defeating foreign players in foreign battles. Since then, I have successively won men's singles championships in Hong Kong Open, China Open and other stations.My performance has gradually stabilized, at least I can reach the top four, and finals are also common.I call it the post-World Championships explosion.

Soon, in early 2004, I returned to Birmingham, waiting for me is the 94th All England Open.What I lost at Birmingham the year before, I will regain. I made it all the way to the final, facing my idol when I was young - the famous Danish player.I remember that Gade won the first game, but after that I won two consecutive cities and achieved a 2-1 reversal.This is the first time I have won the All England trophy.In an interview after the game, Gade praised my impact very much and used the term "Super Dan". Since then, the name "Super Dan" has been known all over the world and continues to this day.

In that All England Championship, the Chinese team won four gold medals, which was the most brilliant achievement in previous competitions.At the subsequent celebration banquet, few persisted until the end.I went to toast the coach, and Xiao Bao was still following me, pouring wine into my glass, saying that my glass was filled with Coke.In fact, we drank red wine and dark beer that day, and there was no Coke at all.At that time he was already dead. It is worth mentioning that before the All England Championships, I had just won the Swiss Open and once again ranked first in the world in men's singles.In other words, two championships in a row within ten days.Facing the upcoming Olympic Games in Athens, this is undoubtedly an incentive for me.

After returning to China, the media continued to ask me to interview me and shoot magazine covers, and I was very happy.At that time, the world ranking suddenly soared to more than 60 places, and they all called me "rocket speed".

---

Notes: