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Chinese Head Coach Warns Ji would Lose Place in National Team
Chinese head coach Li Yongbo warned Wednesday in Seville that Olympic champion Ji Xinpeng would lose his place in the national team if he could not find back his form soon enough.
Ji, who has never reached further beyond the last 16 since winning the men's gold medal in the Sydney Olympic Games, crashed out of the on-going world championships after suffering an surprise defeat to Agus Hariyanto 15-12, 11-15, 4-15 of Hong Kong, China earlier.
"To tell you the truth, I am not satisfied with his performance today," Li said. "I think two reasons have resulted in his defeat. The first is that he was not mentally tough. He did not have the strong desire to win. You could see his pace was too slow.
"The second one is that he must have belittled the rival. He must be thinking that he could win the match trailing by a big margin. He failed to notice it had been too late."
"As an Olympic champion, he must realize that every player should value his career, which is very short. If his performance cannot convince the coaches, his future chance will be ruined. "
Ji played only one match in the Sudirman Cup mixed team championships last week when China beat Sweden in the opening day' s competition. "It's clear that our decision to leave him out of the Sudirman Cup semifinal and final is right. In his present form, it's impossible for him to win at the crucial moment."
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