不知从何时起,乒乓球和羽毛球赛场成了中国人独领风骚的圣地。包揽所有冠军也成为了中国国家队已经实现的梦想。不过,“中国包揽”现象却引来越来越多的担忧和争议。今年五月,继世乒赛中国包揽所有项目桂冠后,苏迪曼杯赛场上,中国队又以压倒性优势卫冕,关于“中国包揽”的讨论又空前激烈。这个八月,羽毛球界的另一盛事—世锦赛又要开锣,中国国家队的表现必定又成为世界评论的焦点。
Having won every title going at the world table tennis championships, China—as widely 1)predicted—wrapped up the Sudirman Cup world team badminton championships in equally 2)emphatic fashion.
继在世界乒乓球锦标赛上赢得所有项目的冠军后,如众人所料,中国凭借各个单项的巨大优势再捧苏迪曼杯世界羽毛球混合团体锦标赛的冠军。
That after Chinese athletes pocketed 51 gold medals at last year’s Olympics to finish top of the medals table for the first time.
在此之前,去年的奥运会,中国运动员将51面金牌收入囊中,首次登上奖牌榜的首位。
Outside China, players, coaches and fans agree that as the Asian country grows richer, it is likely to increasingly dominate sports such as badminton and table tennis, in which it has traditionally been strong.
中国之外,参赛选手、教练和球迷都持相同的看法,认为随着中国这个亚洲国家日益强盛,它很可能会在羽毛球和乒乓球这类传统优势运动项目上逐渐取得主导地位。
But what they cannot agree on is whether this is good for the sports themselves, while even the Chinese are beginning to wonder if, in some disciplines at least, they have become just too good.
但他们意见不一的是,这对于这些运动项目本身是否一件好事,甚至连中国人也开始疑惑,至少在某些方面,中国是否真的好得过分了。
“It’s dangerous,” Cai Zhenhua, the country’s most senior table tennis official, said after seeing China secure yet another clean sweep at the world table tennis championships, in 3)Yokohama, Japan. “If one association keeps winning everything, it’s good for that association but it’s not good for the sport.”
“这很危险,”蔡振华——中国乒乓球界最高级别的官员,在看到中国在日本横滨再一次成功横扫世界乒乓球锦标赛各项桂冠后如是说:“要是一个国家总是赢下所有的项目,对于这个国家来说是件好事,但对于这项运动而言却并非如此。”
Even before China saw off South Korea 3-0 to win badminton’s 4)biennial Sudirman Cup—they have now won the 5)prestigious trophy three times in a row—there was disquiet about their supreme domination in that sport as well.
即使是在中国以3比0击败韩国赢得两年一度的苏迪曼杯前(至此中国已经连续三次夺得了这个荣誉奖杯),中国在这个项目的超级优势已经引起一些人的不安。
“I don’t think anybody thinks that domination’s a good thing,” said Tom Bacher, president of Badminton Europe. But Bacher said he did not think China’s rapid development would automatically lead to further sporting success, saying that the rising standard of living could lessen the 6)incentive to pursue a sporting career.
“我想没有人会觉得统治性优势是件好事。”欧洲羽联主席汤姆·贝奇说道。但贝奇表示,中国的快速发展不会自然而然地让中国取得更多运动上的成功,因为生活水平的提高会削弱追求运动生涯的决心。
Raphael Sachetat, chief editor of the Badzine.info website, said he feared badminton would lose popularity if China continued to dominate—and ultimately that may mean the sport being thrown out of the Olympics. However, Sachetat 7)conceded that China’s success could only improve levels of play throughout the sport as other nations worked harder to catch up.
著名羽毛球网站Badzine.info主编拉斐尔·萨谢塔说,如果中国继续保持统治地位,他担心羽毛球的普及性会被削弱——最终可能意味着这项运动会被奥运会抛弃。不过,萨谢塔也承认中国的成功会让这项运动整体水平得到提高,因为其他国家一直在奋力追赶。
Maijol Mahap, Malaysia’s usually 8)reticent badminton team manager, said after seeing his side taken apart by China that he feared the game would become “boring” if the Chinese kept on winning.
迈祖尔·玛哈普马来西亚这位平时沉默不语的羽毛球领队在看到自己的队伍被中国打得落花流水后说,如果中国一直这么赢下去,他害怕这项比赛会变得很沉闷。
But not everyone agrees China’s supreme domination in badminton is negative.
不过,不是所有人都认同中国在羽毛球方面的超级统治地位是消极的。
Several players at the Sudirman Cup from lower-ranked nations said the Chinese players could not be blamed for raising the bar and that it was up to the rest to try to catch up.
在苏迪曼杯比赛上几个来自低级别国家的选手说,中国运动员不应该因为提高了该项目的门槛就受到批评,而应该是其他人要努力追赶。
“We are really in awe of the Chinese players’ ability so it is not a negative thing, it’s up to us to train harder and to learn from them,” said Scotland’s Gordon Thomson, 23, a singles player.
“我们确实非常敬佩中国选手的能力,所以那并不是件消极的事情,关键在于我们要加倍刻苦训练并且向他们多加学习。”23岁的苏格兰男单选手戈登·汤姆森说道。
A young player from Singapore said, China’s success was partly due to its huge pool of players, while the Chinese also train very hard.
一位年轻的新加坡选手说,中国的成功部分归根于他们庞大的运动员储备,同时,中国运动员的训练也非常刻苦。
One glimmer of hope for the chasing nations is offered by Cai Zhenhua, who said success carries with it responsibility. “It’s our duty to offer the secret of our success to the world,” he said.
蔡振华为其他奋起直追的国家点燃了希望之光,他指出成功应该伴随着责任。“向全世界提供我们的成功之道是我们的责任。”他说道。
