Shi Yuqi s dream of becoming Paris

The tears of the 2024 Paris Olympics are regrets and helplessness; the tears of the 2025 Paris World Championships are joy and release. In the early morning of September 1, Shi Yuqi, the "No. 1" of the national badminton team, defeated his opponent, the famous Thai player Kunlavut, 2-1 in the men's singles final of the 2025 World Championships, and won the World Championships gold medal for the first time. Shi Yuqi, who has been calm these days, burst into tears after winning the championship. After reaching the top of the field a year ago, Shi Yuqi re-proves that he is one of the most powerful male singles players in the world today.

At the Paris Olympics a year ago, Shi Yuqi, the favorite to win the championship, was eliminated 2-0 by Kunlavut and stopped in the quarterfinals. After the Paris Olympics, Shi Yuqi fell into confusion, "I want to fight, but I don't know how to do better. I want to prove myself, but I don't know how to prove myself. I hope everyone sees me and thinks I'm fine, so I keep playing." In the few games after the Paris Olympics, Shi Yuqi was still trying to participate. He wanted to send positive signals to the outside world and also wanted to give himself a psychological comfort, "I'm fine, I can continue." But in fact, he was often distracted during that period, "I feel that people are floating. Others are talking next to me. Although I may hear the sound, I actually don't know what I'm talking about." Shi Yuqi, who wants to tell everyone that he's fine, has really encountered a hurdle and his competition results are mediocre. "Actually, there is something wrong. My mental state is not very good. I don't know what I want to do."

Under the advice of the team, the exhausted Shi Yuqi chose to take a vacation and adjust for one month. At first, he was still thinking about the Olympics and did not let go very much, but gradually, with the changes in the surrounding environment and the encouragement of his family and friends, Shi Yuqi opened the knot in his heart and chose to continue to persevere and return to the arena, and reflect his value on the field. During that time, Shi Yuqi also had the idea of ​​retiring and thought about what to do afterwards, but he found that it would be better to show his value on the stadium. "After playing for so many years, giving up badminton and doing other things, start from scratch?"

Shi Yuqi, who figured out the problem, returned to the court and became stronger. The 2024 BWF World Tour Finals champion, the 2025 Malaysia Open champion, and the 2025 All-English Open champion. However, another setback tests Shi Yuqi. Due to gastrointestinal diseases, his weight lost 6 kilograms and his physical energy consumption was particularly large on the field. "At that time, the jumping time will change. The killing ball became lighter than before. After it was lighter, you had to run more, which led to the increase in the overall consumption. It was easy to be tired at that time, and it would be tiring to play two balls." Even in this case, Shi Yuqi participated in the Sudiman Cup, and Shi Yuqi still won every game, and was still the "Sui Cup God of War" that everyone called. "Don't give up when you are in difficulties, and persevere regardless of whether you are in good or bad condition. If you give me the responsibility, I will do my best." Shi Yuqi now can find a way no matter what kind of adversity he faces, and will not give up easily. More than a month after the Sudiman Cup, through active adjustments and treatment, Shi Yuqi gradually emerged from gastrointestinal disease and returned to his good physical condition. He won consecutive Japanese Open and Chinese Open championships in July. At this World Championships, Shi Yuqi was the number one seed and a favorite to win the championship, but with experience in the Olympics, Shi Yuqi said that he should keep a normal mind. So when he came to Paris, Shi Yuqi reached the finals one by one and finally won the championship. The most common thing he said was "normality". "Try to keep himself calm, like the second and third games of the finals. Although the confrontation was very fast, he still kept himself calm."

After experiencing the fierce battle to save the match point in the World Championship semi-finals, Shi Yuqi's physical condition was not good, but facing the last game of the final, he believed that he could play well, and he did it, "I put in 120% of my efforts to win the last game."

This World Championship, Shi Yuqi faced many tough battles, reversals and rescue match points, and played three games for the fourth time in four days. He overcame physical and mental fatigue with his tenacious willpower. In Shi Yuqi's opinion, his mentality is more positive, putting aside other objective factors, allowing him to go to the end. "I just wanted to win, but I didn't expect to lose. I don't think I need to prove anything anymore. It's great if I win the final championship, but I also hope to do my best in every game and contribute wonderful games to everyone."

The ups and downs of this year, the journey of struggle over the years, when I won the gold medal in the World Championships, the 29-year-old Shi Yuqi felt that everything was worth it. He smiled and said, "Everyone said I played well in the team competition. Now I finally got a gold medal in the individual competition, and I'm very happy."

"The number one seed showed strong mental resilience." This is the evaluation of Shi Yuqi by the World Badminton Federation. Shi Yuqi, who has been tempered for thousands of times, is indeed becoming more and more tenacious now. "When encountering setbacks, you can see more easily and adjust faster. These will make you grow."