WHO CAN STOP ZHENG AND HUANG? – MIXED DOUBLES PREVIEW
谁能阻止雅思？混双前瞻
MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2018
TEXT BY GAYLE ALLEYNE
When it comes to Mixed Doubles, the names Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong (featu
red image; left) have been on the lips of badminton pundits all season – and
may be again come Sunday 16 December.
每当谈到混双项目时，整个赛季的羽毛球专家嘴边都挂著郑思维、黄雅琼的名字，而且可
能又会在本周日再提一次。
Having settled comfortably into their partnership – formed in November 2017
– the world No.1 duo have entrenched themselves in the penthouse position and
are, without a doubt, the favourites to prevail on home turf in the season-en
ding HSBC BWF World Tour Finals.
这对在2017年11月成军的世界第一组合，已经良好地融入他们的合作关系，而且牢固确立
他们的顶尖地位。毫无疑问，在主场的广州年终赛中，他们普遍被认为是夺冠热门。
As if boasting eight titles out of 13 tournaments this year was not enough of
a confidence booster, the Chinese stars will have the full weight of home fans
cheering for them at Tianhe Gymnasium in Guangzhou. The runaway top qualifier
s for the signature event, who did not need to rely on their automatic berth a
s World champions, have another title looming large on their horizon.
如果说今年在十三场比赛里夺得八冠还不足以激励他们，这对中国明星也会从广州天河体
育馆家乡的观众获得满场欢呼声。这对不需要依靠世锦赛名额的顶尖入围者，视线里出现
了另一个重要的冠军头衔。
“Only the consistent performers can qualify for Guangzhou. We are happy we wi
ll be able to compete. Our final goal is to play well in this World Tour Final
s,” said Zheng who is aiming for a hat-trick of victories in the December sho
wpiece.
“只有持续的好表现才有资格参加广州赛。我们很高兴能够参赛。我们最终的目标是打好
年终赛。”郑思维说。在这十二月的盛会里，他瞄准三连胜。
Having won in 2016 and 2017 with Chen Qingchen, the 21-year-old has become com
fortable atop the mountain and is keen to keep his perch; this time accompanie
d by 24-year-old Huang. The latter is equally fixed on the mission at hand.
他在2016和2017年跟陈清晨搭档夺得年终冠军。这位二十一岁的球员习于站在顶峰，而且
渴望保持他的地位。这一次，他的搭档是黄雅琼，后者也同样紧盯这个目标。
“We have to focus on ourselves first. Every game and every point is important
. We have to play group matches before we can reach the knockout stage – so e
very point is important,” noted the gritty player.
“首先我们必须先专注在自己身上。每场球赛、每一分都是重要的。我们要先打小组赛才
能进入到淘汰赛阶段，所以每一分都很重要，”这位坚毅的球员说。
Despite their incredible success this year, the Chinese aces are mindful that
they are not unbeatable and they only have to look as far as second place in t
he HSBC Race to Guangzhou rankings to be reminded of that. Yuta Watanabe/Arisa
Higashino (featured image; right) upset Zheng/Huang in the prestigious All En
gland final in March and should arrive at the Finals in a confident mood, havi
ng registered their first victory against China’s other Finals contenders, Wa
ng Yilyu/Huang Dongping, to land the Hong Kong title last month. Making their
Finals debut, the Japanese have endeared themselves to fans with a fearless pl
aying style that will be on show next week.
尽管今年他们取得令人难以置信的成就，这对中国明星也要留神。因为只要望向年终赛排
名第二位的组合，就会让人想起他们并非是牢不可破的。在今年三月富有声望的全英决赛
中，渡边勇大、东野有纱击败了郑黄。而且他们自信满满地前来广州年终赛，因为刚在上
个月的香港公开赛里，他们对另一组中国竞争者王黄首次取得胜利。首次登场年终赛的东
渡，他们无所畏惧的球风广受粉丝们的爱戴，将会在年终赛展现出来。
Meanwhile, Wang and Huang – China’s world No.2 pair who have lingered in the
shadows of their more accomplished compatriots – will aim to shake off the f
rustration of being second best on a number of occasions this season. Qualifyi
ng in fifth position, they will want to leave everything on the court in Guang
zhou where, they too, can expect massive home support in their second successi
ve Finals appearance. Will they at last outshine Zheng/Huang – it is left to
be seen?
与此同时，王黄这对活在同胞雅思阴影下的组合，其目标是摆脱身为世界第二的挫败。以
第五名资格参赛的王黄，将要在球场上一决胜负。第二度接连参加的他们，也能期待来自
满场观众的支持。他们最终能够战胜雅思吗？还尚待观察。
The other five pairs in the running can all have a say in the proceedings, dep
ending on how the draw and ensuing action unfold. Malaysia’s hopes rest with
Rio 2016 silver medallists, Chan Peng Soon/Goh Liu Ying, as well as with Singa
pore Badminton Open 2018 champions, Goh Soon Huat/Shevon Jemie Lai. Chan/Goh w
ere heartened to qualify in fourth place, having missed out on all four season
-enders in Dubai. They are keen to make up for lost time but are under no illu
sions about the task.
其他五对参赛的组合也都有发言权，这就取决于签表还有接下来的赛事如何发展。大马希
望落在了里约奥运银牌吴柳萤、陈炳顺，还有另外一组获得新加坡公开赛冠军的吴顺发、
赖洁敏的身上。陈吴对于自己以第四名资格参赛感到振奋，因为他们已经错过整整四年的
杜拜年终赛。他们渴望弥补那些失落的时光，不过对于这项任务却不抱幻想。
“It will be quite tough because there are eight top pairs, but we have prepar
ed well and we are ready,” said 29-year-old Goh Liu Ying, applauding the incr
ease in prize money.
“因为参赛者都是前八的顶尖组合，比赛会相当艰难。不过我们已经准备好了。”二十九
岁的吴柳萤说。她也对年终赛增加奖金称赞有加。
“We don’t want to pressure ourselves by setting any expectations. We never q
ualified for any of the Dubai finals so I am very happy to be competing in Gua
ngzhou and we hope to get some good results.”
“我们不想设定任何目标给自己压力。我们未能参加任何一次杜拜年终赛，所以很高兴这
次能来广州，希望我们能获得一些好的结果。”
Like Goh, Sapsiree Taerattanachai has rebounded impressively from a serious in
jury and she and Dechapol Puavaranukroh have again made themselves part of the
Mixed Doubles conversation. The Thai tandem enjoyed a strong finish to the ye
ar, reaching the quarter-finals in Fuzhou, the semi-finals in Paris and Hong K
ong, and the finals in Odense, Denmark. They are dangerous customers on their
day and will be looking to conclude 2018 on the highest note of all.
如同吴柳萤一样，沙西丽从严重的伤病中出人意料地从谷底反弹回来，而且跟德差鹏搭档
再次获得了参与混双的对话权。这组泰国组合今年获得很好的成绩，他们进入福州赛八强
、法国与香港赛的四强，还有丹麦赛决赛。这对具有危险特质的组合想要高调结束2018年
的赛事。
While not many eyes may currently be on Hafiz Faizal/Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja
or Marcus Ellis/Lauren Smith, neither pair can be underestimated. The Indonesi
ans are emerging as potential successors to the iconic Tontowi Ahmad/Liliyana
Natsir and this qualification is another stamp in their favour. England’s Ell
is and Smith, meanwhile, punched the last tickets to Guangzhou, leaping from 1
5th to eighth position in the rankings by winning the Scottish Open 2018 on 25
November.
可能没太多人注意Hafiz Faizal/Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja或Marcus Ellis/Lauren Smi
th这些组合，不过他们也不能被低估。印尼组合被视为纳西尔/阿玛德这对偶像的潜在接
班人，符合年终参赛资格对他们来说也是一种证明。同时，英格兰的Marcus Ellis/Laure
n Smith，在赢得苏格兰公开赛后从十五名跃升至第八名，获得了通往广州的最后一张门
票。
Whichever way these eight pairs have reached the Finals, they have all earned
the right to vie for the World Tour’s biggest jackpot – with a Mixed Doubles
champions’ cheque of US$126 000 – and they are all focused on grabbing the
lucrative prize!
前往年终赛的这八个组合，不论哪一组都有能力争夺年终赛的头奖：混双冠军的12.6万美
元支票。他们所有人都集中精神争夺这项桂冠！
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p-zheng-and-huang/