An Impossible Comeback
On the late night of May 20th, 2023, during the semi-final of the Sudirman Cup in Suzhou, the Chinese badminton team was in a tight spot against the Japanese team. Before this match, China had a perfect record of 6 wins against Japan in the Sudirman Cup history. Facing their old rivals, the Chinese team, however, lost two of the first three games, which means that the Japanese team was only one point away from winning.
In the fourth game, the Chinese players — Liu Yuchen and Ou Xuanyi — competed in the men’s doubles against a Japanese team and again fell behind. At some point, everybody in the stadium could see that if Liu and Ou lost the next two points, then that was it for them, and the Chinese team would kiss goodbye to the semi-final.
However, things took a turn when most people were thinking the Chinese team would lose the game for sure, the stadium staff were preparing for cleanup, and many fans were starting to leave in disappointment. It wasn’t until the last minute that Liu and Ou started their impossible comeback: In the deciding set, they faced four match points at 16-20 but managed to save all of them! They scored six points in a row for an excellent comeback and victory at 22-20!
“I have never seen anything like this before,” one of the reporters said.
Not just everyone watching the match in the stadium but the fans who had left were shocked by the unexpected turn of events. They rushed back to see it when they learned about China’s comeback.
After the match ended with loud cheers, a man working with the BWF (Badminton World Federation), couldn’t help but exclaim, “Crazy!”
1. China won against Japan in the Sudirman Cup history for times.
A. five B. six C. seven D. eight
2. the Chinese team, lost two of the first games,
A. five B. four C. three D. six
3. The Chinese team scored six points in a row from 15 to 21 and won.
A. 15 to 21 B. 16 to 22 C. 15 to 23 D. 18 to 24
Keys:
BCC
