GUWAHATI: The adrenaline rush that comes with success, the heart-wrenching feeling that fills the mind after a loss, Chen Long, considered to be one of the badminton GOATs, has been experiencing different shades of emotions here at the BWF World Junior Championships.
Known to be stoic during his playing career, Chen, who is here as one of the coaches of the China junior badminton team, has been experiencing some testing moments in his role, which he had taken up soon after his playing career in 2023. Dissecting the matches from coaches' designated chairs, Saturday was one such instance when the celebrated Chen was subjected to almost two hours of absolute rollercoaster.
In what was a mixed day for China in the men's singles category, Li Zhi Hang, the first to enter the court, lost a gruelling battle that lasted an hour while Liu Yang Ming Yu brought some cheers to the team camp by battling his way into the final. It was certainly a tough watch for the former Olympic champion.
"It's more stressful as a coach for now. After watching both the semifinals, it's stressful for both the mind and the heart. Even though I'm not playing at the moment, I'm feeling the same level of stress," Chen, with the help of a translator, said.
"As a player, I needed to have a poker face to make my opponent afraid of me and I could perform better and I could focus better on the court. But as a coach, I'm trying to make the players on court feel better. If they win a point, I'll cheer them up. Even if they lose, I'll smile and tell them 'it's okay, continue playing'," the 36-year-old added.
Born in Shashi City, Hubei Province, the former World No 1 was well known for his endurance and his watertight defence during his playing days. Still adapting to life in his new role, he said the challenge has been to pass out the rich lessons he harvested during his playing career.
"As a coach, my challenge has been figuring out how I can use all the years of experience of my playing career and help the youngsters do better on the court and help them win matches."
On the whole, his message to his wards is simple. He said he is more focussed on the process rather than the results. "I tell them to focus on every point, every shuttle and every rally and not pay too much attention to the results. It's okay to lose or win, just pay more attention to every rally and focus on the match."
Just a week or so back, China had reclaimed the Suhandinata Cup, the mixed team event of the World Junior Championships. That was a welcome victory for him as well.
"I'm satisfied with all the arrangements here as we won the mixed team event at last. It's a great thing."
The currency that gives him great pleasure is wins for his wards. "If a player wins with the help of my coaching inputs, I feel very pleased. In the future, I would like to do better with the junior team and then see how it goes. I'll take it step by step."
With the champion mentality that he brings to the table, Chinese shuttlers are in safe hands.
