Beijing: China’s Rio Olympics men’s singles gold medalist and Tokyo Olympics silver medalist Chen Long, lost the bid for his first title at China’s 14th National Games as he fell to 25-year-old Shi Yuqi 11-21, 9-21 in the semi-finals on Thursday.
After the match, Chen posted message below on his personal Chinese social media page citing injury, excessive tiredness, and fatigue have contributed to his loss.
“Because of injuries, I decided to pull out of the remaining matches. This also means that this was my last National Games. I am filled with mixed feelings. I am feeling unspeakably tired…From the Olympics to the National Games, I am exhausted. But I have no regret, after all, I have tried my best. Now I want to go home to stay with my family, wife, and son, slow down a bit and re-charge myself. Thank you very much to all the fans who supported me. It feels good to have you cheering for me. Thanks to my coaches, teammates. I am not going to say goodbye. We shall meet again.”
Chen pulled out of the bronze medal playoff match against Sun Feixiang of Hubei which took place later Thursday.
Shi Yuqi will take on Lu Guangzhu of Jiangsu in the final.
In women’s singles, Tokyo Olympics gold medalist, Chen Yufei will faceoff against He Bingjiao in the final.
Meanwhile, Zheng Si Wei/Huang Ya Qiong will set up a rematch of the Tokyo Olympics mixed doubles final against Wang Yi Lyu/Huang Dong Ping in the mixed doubles final which is scheduled to kick off at 5 pm China time on Friday.
The women’s doubles gold medal will be decided between Chen Qing Chen/Jia Yi Fan and Du Yue/Li Yin Hui while Li Jun Hui/Liu Yu Chen will battle Zhou Haodong/Wang Chang for the men’s doubles gold.
