“Coaching more stressful than being a player,” says China’s Chen Long after BWF World Junior C’Ships semifinal
For those who followed him closely during his playing days, former Olympic and World Champion Chen Long and emotional outbursts were like parallel lines on a badminton court.
However, on Saturday, at the BWF World Junior Championships in Guwahati, the impossible happened. The poker-faced Chen let it out.
After Indonesia’s Richie Duta Richardo failed to lift the shuttle above the net at 13-14 in the decider of the boys’ singles semifinals, Liu Yang Ming Yu fell to his knees and smacked the court thrice with his left hand. Behind him, in the coach’s corner, Chen jumped out of his chair, screaming and punching the air in delight.
“As a player, I needed to be poker-faced, to frighten the opponent, and perform and focus better on the court. But as a coach, I try to make the players on the court feel better. If they win one point, I will cheer them up. If they lose a point, he will also smile and tell them that it’s okay to continue to play,” said the 36-year-old Chen, who took the job of mentoring the next generation of Chinese men after a considerable amount of time post his 2021-retirement.
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It was a tense day for the Chinese stalwart as he had watched Li Zhi Hang lose to top-seeded Indonesia Mohd. Zaki Ubaidillah despite having three match points.
When asked if being a player was more stressful or it is his current role, he mentioned it was the latter. “For sure, it is more stressful being a coach for now. You just saw the two men’s singles semifinals. It’s very stressful for both the mind and heart. I don’t need to play on the court but I feel the same stress as the player and sometimes, even more than him,” he said.
“How I use all of my experience from my playing years to teach youngsters, help them perform better on the court and win the match is my challenge as a coach.”
Chen, who was known as “The Great Wall of China” for his solid defence and stamina, also gave the green signal to the new scoring format – best-of-three games format with each game played to 15 points – being tested at the event.
“The path is quick in this new format. Junior players need to focus more on the court. It is good that every match should only last for 30 minutes. If it goes to a decider, maybe more than 30 minutes but otherwise, it’s quicker than before. So, it’s good,” he opined.
Published on Oct 19, 2025