Review of the Year

The year’s end means I can assemble some of my favourite memories of 2022 and reflect on the dramas that have unfolded on court. The passion and commitment of the players has given us plenty of highs and lows to enjoy and/or endure.

Men’s Doubles

This sector has yielded a lot of the big stories this year; one of the most joyous has been Aaron Chia & SOH Wooi Yik clinching the World Championship in August. There had been occasions in 2022 when they seemed powerless to force the big wins but this time, they grabbed their chance with intelligence and desire. In the preliminary stages of the match, it seemed certain they were heading for silver as they could not equal Ahsan & Setiawan’s tempo. Their change of tactics and success at prolonging the rallies whilst probing their opponent’s defences was decisive and they triumphed in straight sets. Astonishingly the first players from Malaysia to win Gold at the World Championships. A standout achievement.

The winners of the BWF Most Improved Players of the Year are also the new World #1 pair: Fajar Alfian & Muhammad Rian Ardianto. Their partnership this year has been getting better and better and yielded 4 titles (SO, IM, MM, DO). Gideon and Sukamuljo will be focusing on regaining their competitive edge after a tricky year disrupted by injury. One of the shocks of the year was Fikri and Maulana’s victory at the All-England. Out of nowhere, they were unstoppable. I watched most of their games at the arena in Birmingham and I loved the way they rode their momentum to the final.

The new pairing of LIU Yu Chen with OU Xuan Yi looks full of potential. I think that the Chinese coaches can mould these two into an extremely dangerous unit on the road to the Paris Olympics. Their World Tour Finals success was a little unexpected; there were times when OU was nervy, however we can expect to see them on the podium more in 2023.

Rankireddy & Shetty can look back on 2022 with satisfaction at their achievements. They played a significant part in the Thomas Cup win against Indonesia. Their defeat of Kevin and Ahsan was an immense psychological boost to their teammates and a grave blow to their opponent’s ambitions. Commonwealth Gold, plus the French and India Open titles all add to an impressive year.

Women’s Singles

This year has all been about Akane Yamaguchi and her bounce back from a disappointing Olympics. Her play has been outstanding. She is indefatigable on court with a speed of movement and thought that is hard to equal. Her award of BWF Player of the Year is a well-deserved accolade for an athlete who makes no secret of the fact that she plays because she enjoys the game. Korea’s AN Se Young enjoyed an 80%-win rate in 2022 (Stats courtesy of twitter account @Statminton). Although she won three individual trophies, I think the magnificent Korean triumph over China in the Uber cup will be a memory she will cherish over the years. I frequently debate her style of play and whether she is resilient enough to be a ‘pure’ retriever because she often seems to suffer from cramp towards the end of a tournament. Eventually, she may consider a more blended approach; as a young player she was more attack-minded and this may be the solution to the physical demands of tournament success. Her 90-minute marathon against CHEN YuFei in the final of the Uber Cup was astonishing but did end in defeat.

Women’s singles continue to be the most competitive sector. CHEN YuFei did not dominate 2022 (1 title) and in fact her compatriot – HE Bing Jiao – has had a more notable year ending a long trophy drought and cultivating a winning habit. TAI Tzu Ying ended the year second in the world rankings and a consistent presence on the podium with the best win rate amongst her peers (82%). Her musings about retirement have gone to the back burner for a while although chronic injuries do seem to resurface once she goes deep into a tournament. All her fans have their fingers crossed that she can continue to compete at this level for the near future.

Women’s Doubles

Indisputably the world #1 pair CHEN Qing Chen and JIA Yi Fan are still the players to beat in any tournament. Once they get into their rhythm, they are hard to keep at bay; I love their merciless drive for victory, and they will surely dominate podiums again over the next twelve months.

However, this is the sector experiencing the biggest generational shift. 2023 will be a crucial year for the up-and-coming pairs to hone their skills. Apriyani Rahayu’s new partnership with Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti is already looking menacing; there is still work to do to develop that intuitive understanding that is at the heart of all successful pairs, but they could be serious contenders in Paris 2024 if they stay fit and keep working. Pearly Tan & Thinaah Muralitharan – current world ranking 9 – are another couple whose aggressive style is helping to ring the changes in WD. Their victory at the French Open plus Commonwealth Gold only hints at what they could achieve over the next couple of years. The other pair who have caught my eye recently are the Aimsaard sisters representing Thailand. They performed well at their first WTF and should be looking forward to the challenges ahead with confidence.

After the end of the Olympic cycle the Japanese – except for Shida/Matsuyama who are good at winning S1000 titles – are not so dominant in the rankings. Korea has three pairs in the top ten and so we’ll watch with interest to see who can really challenge the Chinese #1.

Men’s Singles

Viktor Axelsen has been incredible in 2022 and deserves all his success. His invincible aura has only been pricked three times this year: the defeats to LOH Kean Yew, Lakshya Sen and H S Prannoy were rare blips in his dominance of his sector. It seemed to me that the only disappointment that hurt him was Denmark’s loss in the Thomas Cup; I am sure he longs for a Gold team medal.

The million-dollar question is “Can he sustain these levels of success?” because the focus for the rest of the athletes in Men’s Singles must be to discover the chinks in his armour and to find ways to stifle Axelsen’s natural game. LOH Kean Yew is quicksilver fast so if the shuttles are flying fast, he gives Viktor serious problems. Prannoy’s strategy was to reduce Viktor’s chances to use his height advantage, try to control the net and just a refusal to concede however dire his situation.

LEE Zii Jia has had a year full of upheaval not to mention some minor injuries. A more tranquil, settled team around him must be the aspiration for 2023. He has all the talent to challenge the best but he must find that extra 5% from somewhere that will strengthen his resilience and help to seize wins in tight games. He lost in the final of the Denmark Open to SHI Yuqi and that win for the returning Chinese maestro gladdened many hearts. Not because anyone wanted LZJ to lose but because SYQ is a brilliant talent who will enrich the sector. Anthony Ginting’s year ended better than it started although it is time he unveiled a Plan B for those games against Axelsen. Lastly Kento Momota has fallen out of the ranking top ten; his long painful slump after the car accident in Malaysia is proving tough to break out of. His recent All Japan triumph is a glint of light, but it remains to be seen if he can use this as a springboard into the new year.

Mixed Doubles

After the dream team of ZHENG Si Wei and HUANG Ya Qiong were split up to a background shriek of disbelief and horror from their fans there was a strange limbo period. Happily, they reassembled in time for the Badminton Asia Championships and have gone on to exert total dominance of mixed doubles. It is arguable that HYQ should have won the BWF Female Player of the Year because that was the first of ten titles in 2022. HYQ’s brief liaison with OU Xian Yi was not bad and I am glad he seems to have found his forever home with LIU in MD, but it is painful to consider what the world of badminton nearly lost.

Conclusions

There have been some epic games, plenty of shocks and lots of talking points. Raking over the ashes of the old year is always interesting, but now we can anticipate 2023. I can’t wait to see who will win the titles on finals day at the Malaysia Open. Lets hope for brilliant play, some surprises and maybe a home winner.

Thanks to all my friends on Twitter who have swapped ideas and opinions with me the last year. A special mention to @Statminton for letting me use their figures in this article.

Featured

Greysia Polii

Greysia’s farewell party is at Istora on the last day of the Indonesia Masters – the rumours are true; she is finally hanging up her racket. It is a chance for Indonesian badminton fans to celebrate her successes and for her to put an official full stop to a wonderful career.

“I was born to be a badminton player…I wanted to make history for Indonesia”
Greysia Polii

Apriyani Rahayu and Greysia Polii of Indonesia react after winning their match against Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan of China. REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger

GreyAp’s Gold medal match at the Olympics was dazzling; they played their best game at the perfect moment and wrote themselves into Indonesian badminton legend.

2021 was the Golden Year but there have been countless twists and turns in a lifetime of badminton achievements. There have been critical moments along the way when she could have given up the sport and found a conventional job. The thing about Greysia is that she really does live the motto #Comebackstronger: she is brave and resilient. If she gets knocked down, she just gets back up again, greets the hard tests with a smile and continues the fight

It must have been tempting to walk away from the sport following her harsh treatment at London 2012. The black card was a shocking sanction especially with a suspension on top, but she endured this and then rekindled her career with Nitya Krishinda Maheswari.

Between 2013-2016 the duo stepped up a level and proved that Indonesia’s WD had the quality to compete against the best. Their 2014 Asian Games gold was evidence they relished testing themselves against the world’s finest pairs. Over the next 2 years they consistently reached finals and semis; as the Rio Olympics loomed, they were ranked 2 in the world with every hope of a medal. Disappointingly their 100% record in the group stages was shattered in the QF, and they returned home empty handed.

Nitya’s injuries meant her career was at an end so for a second time Greysia contemplated her own exit. It was a pivotal moment; her 30^th birthday was on the horizon, and there was no obvious partner for her to continue with. At this point fate took a hand in the form of Eng Hian who persuaded her to defer retirement so that she could help to mentor some of the juniors. In 2017 along came a young, raw Apriyani Rahayu. Success together came quickly (2017 Thailand Open and 2017 French Open) but it was a sector full of high caliber pairs and they were never able to totally dominate , after a couple of years some analysts believed they were reaching the limit of what they could achieve together.

History tells us that the analysts were wrong and they completely underestimated Greysia Polii’s fighting spirit and commitment to her sport. She is an athlete who is strong and smart and will always be remembered as Indonesia’s first WD Olympic Gold medalist. I still cry when I watch the end of that match, don’t you? Thanks for everything Greysia and Happy Retirement.

If you enjoyed this then read my article about the Olympic campaign https://womensbadminton.co.uk/2021/08/12/brilliant-polii-and-rahayu-win-olympic-gold/ or watch the match on YouTube

Brilliant Polii and Rahayu Win Olympic Gold

This was the most joyous Gold medal. Athletes can’t buy an Olympic victory; they earn one over years of perseverance and pain. Even then, some don’t reach their dream, so to watch Greysia Polii and Apriyani Rahayu on top of the Tokyo podium was a glorious moment.

The origins of the triumph stretch back to a young Greysia who was focused on becoming a pro:

“I was born to be a badminton player. And I had that faith when I was 13, that I wanted to make history for Indonesia”
Greysia Polii

Along the way she endured a controversial exit from London 2012 and lost at the QF stage in Rio 2016 with Nitya Krishinda Maheswari. When the news broke that her partner required surgery and was going to retire Polii seriously considered hanging up her racket too.

Looking back this was when Eng Hian – the head of Indonesian Women’s Doubles – had a stroke of genius. He convinced her to delay retirement…to stay a little longer and help guide the progress of some of the younger players. In 2017 along came the talented but raw Apriyani Rahayu: aged 19 with a dislike of being told what to do, but intelligent and ambitious enough to recognise that this was a great opportunity to learn from Greysia. As time passed and the chemistry between them formed it started to occur to Polii that if she could instill a champion’s mindset into her young partner then maybe this could lead to great things. She would need patience, perseverance and to stay injury-free. Perhaps everything that had gone before was preparing her for this.

Fast Forward To Tokyo 2020

The tournament started brightly for GreyAp. Two wins out of two in the group stages and the importance of the final game against FukuHiro escalated. Suddenly here was an opportunity to emerge from the Round Robin as group winners and therefore avoid a seeded pair in the Quarter Final.

Wars of attrition pose little threat to the Indonesian duo. They have the physical resilience to endure a lot and that style of play offers a great platform for the sudden explosions of power from Apri or the creative vision and deft touches from Greysia. The Japanese top seeds could not handle the aggressive tempo of the contest. They were stubborn and resisted over three sets but folded in the last 21-8. So GreyAp entered the knockout rounds and I was feeling optimistic.

It’s been clear over the course of the Olympic badminton tournament that the Chinese athletes’ standards haven’t suffered from their lack of international competition. In the QF against DU/LI Greysia and Apri were asked some hard questions over three sets but they stood firm and refused to let the Chinese win.

The Semi-Final against LEE/SHIN was a daunting prospect but as the match progressed it was always GreyAp who had the upper hand. The competitive momentum that they had been building since the tournamnet began carried them on to the final. Another win, a guaranteed medal, history made.

This was a final waiting to be won. There was little point in waiting to be beaten by the hot favourites: I think Greysia and Apri realised this and it fed their ambitious attitude. Rahayu brought her ‘A game’ – make that her ‘A+ game’. Her energy and bravery constantly screwed down the pressure on CHEN/JIA. Her aggressive high tempo unsettled their rhythm and her noisy, boisterous attitude helped dominate the court space. At 1-1 in the first set there was a moment when Greysia took the shuttle mid-court on her backhand and pinged it crosscourt into empty space. At that moment I realised she knew they could win. The next point was gained by Polii’s delicate drop which emphasized her intent and desire. It was a close set as the four of them traded points but in the end GreyAp won it 21-19. Advantage Indonesia.

Set two opened with them racing to a 7-2 lead. Both players were decisive and self-assured. Unburdened by tension they were playing without inhibition and exuding self-belief. Everything they did worked. The Chinese tried to get back into the flow of the game but they were being swept along by the irresistable pace and vision of the Indonesians. Incredibly at 18-10 Polii’s strings broke but she had time to grab a replacement racket and win the rally.

There was an inevitability to the final moments as they had outclassed CHEN/JIA throughout the game. The (mostly) empty arena didn’t matter – we were all crying and screaming at our screens together as they celebrated victory. Often the difference between a Silver and Gold medal is simultaneously a universe and barely a whisker. The Indonesia duo had dominated in every area of the court and had played their best ever game at exactly the right moment. Congratulations Greysia Polii and Apriyani Rahayu: Gold medallists and history makers!

If you enjoyed this then take a look at my earlier article about GreyAP https://womensbadminton.co.uk/2020/01/19/greysap-redux-polii-rahayu-are-back/

Men’s Doubles

Women’s Singles

Women’s Doubles

Men’s Singles

Mixed Doubles

Conclusions

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Fast Forward To Tokyo 2020

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