badminton – Page 7 – Women's Badminton

The bombshell word ‘retirement’ was spoken by TAI tzu Ying about a year ago and a shudder passed through her millions of fans. Seven months into lockdown with no big tournament since YAE I’m beginning to understand what the badminton landscape will look like without this extraordinary player and I don’t like it. Jaw dropping visionary play blended with virtuoso racket skills is a mix made in badminton heaven so a tournament without the chance to witness a reverse slice straight backhand drop executed by the Queen suddenly loses a little glitter.

In her most recent interview on Badminton Unlimited TTY offers some reassurance to her supporters. She is certain that she will continue to compete until next season ends and then she will mull over her options. This means that we can enjoy the anticipation of watching her participate in her third Olympics. I would love to see her on that podium in Japan, alongside some of my other favourites like Ratchanok, Nozomi or Akane. Imagine a Gold medal match between May and Tzu Ying; this would be a version of paradise for me and lots of other fans.

Coach Lai has been smart in keeping training fresh. TTY has mentioned before that she doesn’t go out ‘much’. Pictures on Instagram frequently show her enjoying being outdoors and I’ve often joked that she should work for the Taiwan tourist board when she retires. The beautiful scenery around her gives a spectacular backdrop to a bike ride or hike with her training partners. Without the intensity of a jam-packed tournament calendar she should be able to address any niggling injuries, and enjoy a fitness programme with an altered aim. I think that the focus will have been adjusted because she will not have to be on a (literal and metaphorical) treadmill to get prepared for next week’s match. This is why we have seen her enjoying cross training and sports like beach football and boxing. The emphasis on agility and flexibility remains but there will be interesting cross-fertilisation from other sports. It’s a good time to review technique and strategies but most of all this is a chance to emotionally refresh and rest intelligently.

The playing career of an elite player is really quite short. Movement has to be explosive with instant changes in direction and this can trigger severe pressure on knees and arms. Press conferences after finals are often conducted with the winners pressing ice-packs to their shoulders. The emotional cost of competition can be challenging too; stepping onto court with the hopes of your nation upon your shoulders is not easy; especially when supporters don’t see the hours of sweat in training. Added to this are the constant demands of the tournament schedule: international travel may seem glamourous but an endless landscape of airports and hotels can quickly dull the excitement.

We have three tournaments planned for Thailand in January 2021 with exacting covid protocols insisted upon by the Thai authorities. Quarantines, regular swab tests and temperature checks blended with stringent hygiene requirements and social bubbles should give reassurance to many but perception of risk is diverse. It’s impossible to predict where we will be in the trajectory of this pandemic by then.

Covid has annihilated the tournament schedule and it has given many athletes time to pause and reflect on their career path. The motivation to train without a reason is hard to maintain so it is reassuring to see that Tai Tzu Ying can still get up early in the morning, leave her house at 7am and start training at 8.30. This is the mark of a true champion. The players who can keep their enthusiasm and focus amidst the crisis will be the ones who return stronger. I long to watch her next game.

If you enjoyed this here is a link to my review of TTY’s performance at Taiwan’s Mock Olympics https://womensbadminton.co.uk/2020/08/03/tai-tzu-ying-and-taiwans-mock-tokyo-olympics/ and this one about her recent acquisition of patience https://womensbadminton.co.uk/2020/06/19/tai-tzu-ying-the-greatest/

I miss international badminton, I miss the joy and stress of watching Anthony on court, I miss writing previews for this blog, I miss chatting about matches on Twitter and of course I miss TAI Tzu Ying.

A gathering storm: Wuhan in January then Italy in February led us to a covid-denying Britain in March. The All England went ahead after huge efforts by everyone at Badminton England to provide a safe environment for everyone involved. Thank God that work was largely successful albeit that there were reports that a young member of the Taiwan team had tested positive for the disease.

Walking away from the arena in Birmingham after watching TAI Tzu Ying nail her third Yonex All England title I never would have predicted that it was the last tournament I’d enjoy of any note for six months. Six months!

So, the stakeholders in the badminton community have found themselves in some sort of limbo. It seems to a large proportion of badminton fans that there has been no overarching strategy to protect the sport from the effects of this long layoff. Indoor sports have uniquely tricky circumstances to address but we have all seen top quality tournaments staged nationally in many countries so they do seem to be able to overcome these problems to the satisfaction of players and staff.

No one in power has shared any sort of vision for the short-term and so we have wildly different approaches from different nations. Of course, none of us has had to run a global sport during a pandemic before however I see some of the national associations striving to give their athletes and fans a temporary way forward. In Asia we’ve enjoyed a series of home tournaments, notably in Indonesia, Korea & Malaysia. The Chinese domestic league has given it’s superstars some seriously testing games and in Europe there have been demanding ‘home tests’ in Denmark. The Taiwan Sports Authority staged a Mock Olympics in order to keep their athletes on their toes and the sports-loving public entertained.

Badminton’s reactivation was supposed to happen in October with the Thomas & Uber Cups in Aarhus plus a Danish Masters and a Danish Open in Odense. Cracks appeared in this plan once key nations started to withdraw: Taiwan, Korea and then mighty Indonesia all citing safety concerns. The BWF decided to trim its ambitions and has abandoned everything bar the Open. Social media channels have erupted with disappointment and criticism directed mainly at the governing body; our community is desperate to get tournaments back on the agenda but not at any price. As an observer it is just not clear what the BWF has been doing to reassure competitors that its safety protocols are the strictest possible.

We just seem to ricochet between disappointments at the moment. At time of writing the Open is still going ahead but with Malaysia, China, Thailand & Indonesia missing. My thoughts go out to the Danish organisers who have been blown in the wind by events and decisions they have no hope of influencing.

So here we stand. A weakened Open in prospect followed by 3 back-to-back tournaments in Thailand in January and then a crammed calendar in the run-up to the Olympics. Only the sunniest optimist could see this going ahead without a hitch – the situation is so volatile.

What bothers me most about the place we find ourselves in is the apparent disconnect between the BWF and the badminton community AND the clear lack of lessons learned from other sports. We have seen others successfully implement bubble systems, tough testing regimes and hygiene protocols so why not badminton? Players cannot be expected to stay motivated and focused indefinitely with no reassurance about their future. Some fans may be satisfied with reruns of old matches but the majority will want new contests and so the danger is they will turn their attention to other sports which have restarted successfully like the Premier League, IPL and Motor Racing. Now is the time to have a clear vision for the short and long-term well-being of the game otherwise we risk losing a generation. Who will step up?

If you enjoyed reading this here is my acount of TAI Tzu Ying’s appearance in Taiwan’s Mock Olympics https://womensbadminton.co.uk/2020/08/03/tai-tzu-ying-and-taiwans-mock-tokyo-olympics/ or this one which is a fictional account of the Women’s Doubles final at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics https://womensbadminton.co.uk/2020/08/27/2020-imagined-olympic-finals-womens-doubles/

Category: badminton

We Miss TAI Tzu Ying

Badminton – What Happens Now?

Share this:

Share this: