Skilful Left-Hander Will be Missed
It is anti-climactic that just days after her decade-long career’s biggest moment, He Bing Jiao would announce her retirement.
· DEV SUKUMAR
She is, after all, just 27. After long being in the shadow of her peers – particularly Chen Yu Fei – He Bing Jiao finally had her moment in the sun in Paris when she made the women’s singles final against An Se Young. That she chose this high point to call time on her career seems almost counter-intuitive.
Her two big wins at Paris 2024 were against Pusarla V Sindhu – she avenged her bronze medal playoff loss to the Indian at Tokyo 2020 – and defending champion Chen Yu Fei in the quarterfinals. Although she was lucky to be in the final, with Carolina Marin suffering an injury while on the verge of victory in their semifinal, He Bing Jiao certainly did not come away feeling triumphant. She looked crestfallen. The same thing had happened in Tokyo 2020 too, against Beiwen Zhang in the Round of 16, and when reminded of that, the Chinese left-hander burst into tears.
This sensitivity, her soft-spoken nature, and her intellectual curiosity are perhaps her most striking qualities off-court. On court, her game is untypical of a top Chinese player, based not so much on power or steadiness, but on delightful left-handed skill and footwork.