Anders Antonsen might have made the headlines by winning the China Masters and Jonathan Christie also by vanquishing Shi Yuqi, but the best match to watch was the one between Shi Yuqi and Vitidsarn. It had so many subtle tricks and tactics that only a true student of badminton would be able to see and enjoy. Let’s discuss.

To most people watching the quarterfinals match between Kunvalut Vitidsarn and Shi Yuqi, the score is unremarkable. Shi Yuqi extracted revenge on Vitidsarn on his Olympic defeat by winning 21-18, 21 – 8. That is the end to that. It was so unremarkable that it didn’t even made the highlights reel of the BWF YouTube channel. It is so ironic. Had Jill Clarke and Steen Pedersen been commentating that match, I am certain they would be gasping at technical skills on display in the match.

When Shi Yuqi or Vitidsarn does a simple attacking lob, there is much more than meets the eye! Before the hit, both players would be trying to disguise their intent. They do not reveal what shot they are going to play until the last moment. And sometimes, they put in a slight delay to the shot. Other times, they would hide which direction they are going to hit the shot. And when they could, they put in deception.

Almost every rally there was some technical element which was thrown in by both players. And this started from the get go. During the game when the score was 2 to 2, Vitidsarn won that rally by putting in a slice with deception. Vitidsarn was looking like he was about to hit a hard shot to his forehand, but changed it at the last moment to hit a drop shot to his backhand instead. Brilliant.

In the next rally, when Vitidsarn was leading 3 to 2, he started to do flicks with delays in order to put Shi Yuqi off. And after 5 flicks with delays and 1 lift, Vitidsarn finally found an opportunity for a reversed slice to win the point. Reverse slices and slices are deadly as the shuttle does not go when the player is swinging, and also the trajectory of the shuttle is different from usual hits. That makes slices the most potent weapon in badminton.

This match is just peppered with awesome rallies like these! There was no easy point to be won by either player. Both of them had to put in the work just to get a point off the other. This is badminton at the highest level.

After enduring a flurry of Vitidsarn’s tricks, Shi Yuqi turned it around and applied his own. Then the match slowly inched in Shi Yuqi’s favour and he took the lead. But Vitidsarn kept coming back with more tricks. The match inched forward with both of them matching each other point for point.

When Shi Yuqi was leading 14 to 12 when he applied a form of deception at the net where he appears to be going for a net shot, but he flicked it high at the last moment. This forced Vitidsarn into making a return which was not deep enough, allowing him to kill the shuttle and win the rally.

Another example of Shi Yuqi using delays in his shots to put Vitidsarn off was when he was leading 20 to 16. When an opportunity came to execute an attacking lob, Shi Yuqi could have just went for it. He could have choosen to do another attacking move like a half smash, drop shot or a slice too. He decided to do an attacking lob, and he also decided to put a slight delay before hitting the shot.

The delay is meant to mess up the opponent’s timing, a.k.a. the split step. By delaying the shot by a fraction of a second, this will mean the opponent’s split step is off timing. He won’t be able to use the bounce from the split step to move as when he lands his split step, the shot has not arrived yet. That would require an additional split step to get moving, and since another split step lands too late, he would be late to the shot. Surprisingly, Vitidsarn was not too troubled by the delay and went on to win that point.

This match is highly entertaining due to all these subtle tricks which both players were using. It is a match of the highest technical quality. It matches the classic matches of Momota vs Chen Long, Lin Dan vs Lee Chong Wei. The only downside of this match which prevents it from being a classic is because Vitidsarn could not last the second game and lost tamely. In this match up, Shi Yuqi won by using his physical strength and endurance by outlasting Vitidsarn. Technically they were both equals.

Please do rewatch this match when BWF releases it in your country. I like how BWF has modified the terms and conditions with broadcasters. Now videos on YouTube are released after a cooling down period of a few days. In the past, we never ever get access to these videos after the tournament has ended, which is a shame. This will only make badminton more popular, and that is a good thing.

That’s all for this entry.

Until the next update, eat well, get plenty of rest, and keep the badminton going!