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Barcelona Spain Masters: WS Preview

After the excitement of the PBL and the Team Championships the tour arrives in Europe for the next few months

We are counting down to the end of the Olympic qualifying period. The situation for players who have already confirmed their spot – such as Marcus & Kevin – is excellent. They can manage their preparations to peak in July; no need to risk injury or burn-out. However, athletes who are hovering in the borderlands, those who are in the position of being ranked between about 10-25, are going to get drawn into an increasingly fraught scrabble for points. Some will be anxiously looking over their shoulders whilst others know that they can get to Japan, with a huge effort plus a bit of luck.

Because of the tragic situation in China and elsewhere regarding Covid-19 the travel restrictions have had an impact upon some players attendance. I believe the Chinese team are going to have a European base for a while to help with their quarantine compliance. Unfortunately this will not be in time for this Spanish tournament so there have been some significant withdrawals. Well, it’s an ill wind that blows nobody any good; the competitors who can make Spain must make the most of the circumstances they are in.

Women’s Singles – WARNING! THIS IS ALL ABOUT SAINA

Carolina Marin must be looking at the other players in her home tournament in much the same way that a lion views antelope drinking at a water hole. Prediction: Winner!

Her die-hard supporters are still focusing all their positivity around Saina Nehwal‘s push to qualify for the Olympics again. If she can, it would be a magnificent acheivement. If she fails, then armchair fans can easily identify areas that should have/could have been managed differently. It’s a lack of consistency that has frustrated her ambitions over the last 12 months. She has had persistant injuries and has commented that her problems on court stem more from an inability to move smoothly rather than any lack of desire. There also seems to be a lack of clarity around her coaching support. As an experienced elite player she surely is the best judge of who she needs courtside but I feel lukewarm about the idea of her husband providing this help. Tactical advice should come from an expert. It’s undeniable that she has fallen prey to distractions away from the game too: Vogue covers and political ambition may refresh a jaded player or they may dissipate focus.

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At a minimum she must get to the semi-final but Line Kjaersfeldt awaits in R2. She has already beaten the Indian this year at the Thailand Open and, during the Indonesian Masters back in January, she shocked CHEN YuFei in the second round in straight sets so Saina must be awake from the minute she gets on court. Kjaersfeldt could easily play the sort of strategy that exploits Saina’s lack of fluency. The key question is: Can Saina’s cunning carry her through? If she can play the sort of game that saw her win against AN Se Young in Malaysia then the answer is YES! Prediction: Semi

XXXX STOP PRESS XXXX DANES WITHDRAW XXXX

After their wonderful victory in the European Women’s Team Championships on 16.2.20 some key Danish players have withdrawn from the tournament citing injuries. Unfortunately Mia Blichfeldt (originally seeded 2), and Line Kjaersfeldt will be missing from the Women’s singles. Saina MUST take advantage of this to accrue Olympic points; she will not get dealt a better hand by fate this year!

Busan Ongbamrungpham and Pornpawee Chochuwong are two Thai players who are often overshadowed by May’s superstar status but I’m sure there are benefits to this. They must get to train with her at times and it’s interesting that Thailand is getting more strength in depth these days (consider the success of the juniors). Either of these two could get themselves a podium place but the prize on offer will be more than that. Both are still fighting for an Olympic spot, but both cannot go because of Ratchanok. Chochuwong is slightly behind her compatriot in the rankings so I think she needs to do well here. Saina needs to watch out because either of these two could trample on her ambitions to fulfil their own.

Conclusion

The BWF ranking list that’s due to be published at the end of April will confirm which players make Tokyo and who stays home. Some athletes are on a knife edge now; they have to seize the moment. The absence of many of the Chinese players gives an unlooked-for advantage to the competitors in this tournament. If we consider Marin, her side of the draw looks reasonably trouble-free; she should be able to pocket this home tournament. The interesting question is, can Saina rise to the challenge?

©2025

Amanda Bloss All Rights Reserved

If you’re a Saina fan take a look at this https://womensbadminton.co.uk/2019/10/08/indias-saina-nehwal-trailblazer-legend/

CHEN Qing Chen & JIA Yi Fan

Chinese players were the dominant force of the 2019 All England Championships: of the five titles up for grabs they won three.  The current holders of the Women’s Doubles trophy, CHEN Qing Chen and JIA Yi Fan will be in an upbeat mood as they analyse the year they had – altogether six tournament victories – and optimistic about meeting the challenges ahead. 

Women’s Doubles is contested by lots of talented twosomes from all over the badminton playing world but it’s interesting to note that there is no Momota-like presence who rules supreme.  Consider the five Super750 tournaments from last year, remarkably they were each won by different pairs.  However, CHEN & JIA have the competitive edge when we look at the most coveted trophies on the tour, the Super1000.  They are able to inject a bit of extra sparkle under pressure and this enabled them to win two of the 3 – the YAE & the China Open – and bronze in the third.  This trio of elite competitions are the ones that all players want to win, so to bag two in a year is a mark of superiority and it illustrates their enjoyment of performing on the big stage in front of a large crowd.

What is it about this partnership that makes them thrive at the highest level?  They have been playing together for years and so the crucial foundation of rotation and mutual support has become effortless.  The flow of movement is very smooth, this underpins their attacks and lets them pummel opponents into defeat.  Crucially they both have reliable serves (the most important shot in the game in my opinion) so unlike some of their rivals they can expect to gain control of the rally right from the start.  And, of course, they have the expertise of the Chinese coaches to support them at every match.

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CHEN is a pressure player, always busy with energy and focus.  Good technique means she can generate a lot of power despite her lack of height (164cm).  Her superb cross-court smashes are unleashed with ferocity and accuracy to gain a lot of points for the team.  At the start of her senior career she competed in Mixed and Women’s Doubles and has enjoyed success in both.  Nowadays she concentrates more on WD but playing against men has informed her style.  She’s brave, resolute and will face down aggression easily.  She provoked headlines at the YAE last year when she cut short her celebrations, trimmed her lap of honour and avoided the spotlights.  She explained later that she wanted a low profile so as not to distract her friend CHEN Yufei, who was about to enter the arena to play her Women’s Singles final.  This shows a good mark of respect for her teammates and a lack of ego.

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It’s often said – most notably by the great Morten Frost – that JIA Yi Fan is the key to this partnership’s success.  If she is playing to her potential then they tend to win.  She is left-handed and like CHEN can produce a lot of power.  She is a decisive player who will smash, follow-up and then bury the shuttle to clinch a point.  Her flat drives build pressure to force mistakes especially when she puts them together in her attacking sequences. She has a delicate touch at the net too, and can take the sting out of a speeding shuttle to wrongfoot opponents.

As a pair they play at a high tempo and with venom.  I watched their semi-final and final in Birmingham last year and was stunned by their hostile bombardment of their opponents.  The experience of seeing them play live was memorable because the speed and accuracy they can produce is overwhelming.  They can be unceasingly intense and often opponents get pinned down midcourt as flat vicious drives and smashes zero in on them.  I always think that the attacking combination of a lefty with a conventional right-hander is a mix guaranteed to unsettle rivals.  They have to unpick their muscle memory to modify the standard defence routines so a proportion of their automatic responses to pressure are obsolete.

Can they retain their title in Birmingham?  They’ve begun the year in anticlimactic fashion at the Malaysian Masters but I don’t think we should read anything major into that result. As we know, 2020 is Olympic year which is significant to the focus of athletes’ training cycles. The danger from the Japanese WD pairs is huge. There are lots of players who are going to be pushing to the limit because qualification for Tokyo is restricted to two WD pairs per country.  Fukushima and Hirota, Matsumoto and Nagahara, not to mention the current Olympic Champions Matsutomo and Takahashi all need success in England.

So, there are threats to CHEN & JIA’s desire to make it two in a row in Birmingham but not many players who have the firepower that they can bring to a match.  The pace and power they unleash is breath-taking. Momentum in sport is so important and any athlete with ambitions to win in March will need to bring their best game to the All England.  On the big stage, in the important competitions is where this Chinese pair shine and there is no better tournament for them to cement their legend.

This first appeared on the Yonex All England website

If you enjoyed this you may like my article about one of their biggest rivals, Fukuhiro https://womensbadminton.co.uk/2019/11/06/japans-fukuhiro-can-they-win-tokyo-gold/

Or this one about Polii & Rahayu https://womensbadminton.co.uk/2020/01/19/greysap-redux-polii-rahayu-are-back/

©2025

Amanda Bloss All Rights Reserved

January – Top Takeaways for Women’s Badminton.

A new year with old rivalries and the added piquancy of the Olympics in July. We are six months away from the biggest athletic event on the planet, the intensity and desire for success is going to build with each tournament and this all adds up to a scintillating few months in prospect for fans. The anticipation of qualification is offset by the dread of failure. 2020 has started with some thrilling matches; finals day at Istora was a cauldron of raw emotion – who didn’t relish those results with utter joy? What have we learned in January, who is up for the fight? Who has that podium in Tokyo in their sights?

Women’s Singles

TAI Tzu Ying has been treading a different path to her rivals this year. She is cherry-picking the best tournaments to support her ambition. This feels like an athlete with a plan and along with her coaches she understands that entering every tournament is not the effective way for her to achieve her goal. Getting the balance right between training, competition and fitness is what coaches are paid to do. I think it’s been a stroke of genius to play in the PBL. It has freshened up the daily grind, there are some excellent training partners for her and she gets to play matches that are important but it’s not a catastrophy to lose. For instance, only 16 years old but Gayatri Gopichand took a set off TTY in the PBL whilst playing for Chennai Superstarz – now here is a girl with ambition!

As ever, this is the most dynamic, exciting sector of badminton with the best athletes. Head-to-head battles between the top 20 players are often gloriously unpredictable. In contrast to the men’s game there is no dominant player except that CHEN Yufei won 7 tournaments in 2019 and significantly she does not lose finals. As current World #1 she started 2020 in good form and won the Malaysia Masters by beating TAI Tzu Ying in two sets. Crucially she hasn’t built upon this opportunity to dominate; she was knocked out of the Indonesian Masters on the second day by the unseeded Line Kjaersfeldt.

Carolina Marin has been cultivating her old aura of unbeatability and has been on the podium at all three competitions this year. Reliable results should be a good indicator of future success so we have to acknowledge that she is the person in January who has delivered. Nevertheless, no titles yet and she has been beaten by three different players: CYF, May & Akane, so this tells me that she still has loads of work to do if she wants to defend her 2016 Gold medal.

Akane & Nozomi: no-one can be under greater pressure to do well in Japan than the two home players. January has been a good month for Akane. Her win over AN Se Young in the Thailand Masters final is perhaps a sign that she is emerging from a hard few months of injury disruption. Nozomi has had a quiet start to the year after a successful and frustrating 2019. Five finals, five runners up medals. There were times last year when she was modifying her game to incorporate more aggression, she has to be less predictable to just get that extra 1% that makes the difference between Silver and Gold.

Indian Badminton

Indian Badminton does seem to be going through a bit of a rough patch at the moment, last year was pretty uneven and not much has improved. Saina Nehwal is a true great of the game but results are not good enough at the moment to ensure her qualification for Tokyo. Only a fool would write off her chances at this point and on a positive note her triumph over AN Se Young in R2 of The Malaysia Masters was a reminder that she can beat anyone. I’m unconvinced that her current coaching setup adds to her competitive edge though; I think that if her fluency improves and strategies to get her qualification points whereever she can are used then we still may see her in Japan. Her withdrawal from the Badminton Asia Team Championships plus her recent political work point to a lack of focus. As an observer I just see chaos.

P V Sindhu has a reputation as a ‘Big Tournament Player’ and is the current world champion. Nevertheless, her tendency to crash out of tournaments too early is frustrating. We often excuse her underperformance because we see her respond well to the biggest challenges. I am sympathetic to this view but surely it’s better to win and get some competitive momentum rather than travel here, there and everywhere only to crash out early? Nevermind, emotions aside, I don’t think her results over the past six months are much worse than Akanes so perhaps it’s better to just enjoy the rollercoaster. Of course she will get to Tokyo, but will she get on the podium? On the strength of January’s performances I am sceptical.

Women’s Doubles

My highlight in January across all sectors has to be Polii & Rahayu’s victory at the Indonesia Masters. Their semi-final and final were emotionally exhausting epics. It’s taken a lot of courage for them to analyse and rebuild their game. Over the next few months I hope we see this revitalised pair win more. No Japanese duo has made a final yet this year and it’s still not decided which of them will be competing in Tokyo. This must be a difficult situation because they need to compete well to get ranking points to increase their chances of qualification however over-training and too much competition could risk injury or burn out. CHEN/JIA are very dangerous players, so strong and such brutal attackers but they are not dominating tournaments yet. It’s a very fluid picture; there is an opportunity in this sector for a pair to really boss the results – who will step up?

Any Conclusions?

Winning an Olympic Gold is never a fluke but rather the result of years and years of dedication. Carolina’s consistency in the routine of competition is the opposite of what we observe from P V Sindhu and yet judging by January’s results both of them risk being denied medals. TTY looks focused and although we know she can be perfectly imperfect, at the moment the logic of her regime seems sound. I’ve barely mentioned May or AN Se Young. Ratchanok had an excellent win over Marin in the final of the Indonesian Masters and no worries about her stamina in that 3 set match. ASY is still work in progress, but she is transtioning from Giant-killer to Giant. I wonder if this will be achieved by July?

There’s still a long way to go, a lot of matches to be played. The first milestone is the end of the qualifying period on the 26th April. Nerves are jangling a little already, once we have the final list of players the anticipation and dread can really begin.

I need to acknowledge the incredibly sad road traffic accident in Malaysia and offer sincere condolences to the family of the deceased driver, Mr N Bavan. I also send sympathy to everyone affected by this. We should appreciate the good things in our lives everyday. As Dato Lee Chong Wei said in his Chinese New Year Message …”time to put down everything, shut down the computer…go back home. There is someone there thinking for you. Always remember to treat it as the last new year you would ever have. Cherish your love one.”

If you enjoyed this article follow the link for my recent piece about Polii & Rahayu https://womensbadminton.co.uk/2020/01/19/greysap-redux-polii-rahayu-are-back/ or this one about AN Se Young https://womensbadminton.co.uk/2019/07/08/an-se-young-koreas-sensational-17-year-old/

©2025

Amanda Bloss All Rights Reserved

GreyAp Redux: Polii & Rahayu Are Back

“…we still have a lot of work on ahead of the Olympics…” Greysia Polli

GreyAp’s victory in the Women’s Doubles final at the Indonesia Masters was sensational. In an emotionally charged Istora the home crowd roared the fight to it’s climax. Fruergaard & Thygesen held match point at 20-19 after three punishing sets. Polii and Rahayu refused to give in. Again the Danes held match point at 21-20 but for a second time they would not concede. The Indonesians suddenly found some last bursts of desire and determination and sealed the win 23-21.

2020 has begun well for Greysia Polii and Apriana Rahayu but there were times in 2019 when it seemed as though the partnership had run it’s course. In the first half of the year they won the India Open but they failed to build on this and did not seem to be able to dictate the course of their matches . Results were flat and there was a worry that they were using tactics that would never get them to the top of the podium. There was a palpable feeling of stagnation about their strategy and style.

In August in Basle they won bronze at the BWF world championships. The QF match was a difficult tussle against CHEN & JIA who bombarded them with shuttles hit with alarming venom. It was hard to see how they would survive this gruelling game but they rejected easy options and stood their ground, eventually winning 25-23 23-21. In hindsight this tournament was a turning point. I think that because of Polii’s subsequent injury issues they had to have an honest conversation with themselves and their coaches about their future. In the past they often seemed happy ‘just’ to defend in matches but this was adding to their competitive decline. Other pairs had worked them out and a game based around long rallies, clears and defence was not enough.

GreyAp’s participation in the SEA Games was odd. At the time other key Indonesian players were preparing for the World Tour Finals. However, in Manila they won Gold. Greysia Polii already held three silvers from this event with two other partners (Jo Novita & Nitya Krishinda Maheswari) but this time, with Apri Rahayu she finally got the Gold. Reports coming out of the Philippines were positive. But straight after the tournament ended they had to jump on a plane to China. They arrived in Guangzhou late, missed the Gala dinner, then never really got going at the round robin stage. They didn’t progess after losing every game. Greysap fans everywhere went into the break feeling confused. Was the SEA Games victory an anomaly?

The first tournament of the year – The Malaysia Masters 2020 – saw them lose in the semi final to the eventual winners. There were reasons to be cheerful. And so we come to their ‘home’ tournament: The Indonesia Masters. We all know what happened next, but I want to look at how it happened because I think we have witnessed them transforming into a much sharper, more effective team.

The key to this change has been Apri. She has always been brave, aggressive, and works hard for the team. Now she has discovered something extra.

Recently Apri has been playing some XD with Tontowi Ahmad. It is a cliche in badminton that women who play XD often improve their confidence at the net for WD but I think this has happened. It must also be fantastic for her self belief that a legend like Tontowi wants to play with her. She has a focused hunger in the forecourt now. There is a drive to go and hunt for points and we are seeing great interceptions. This in alliance with the short flat rallies she can initiate with Greysia in support put immense pressure on opponents.

Their flat game has a great tempo and the sequences they can build from this put them at a competitive advantage. Both of them can execute steep smashes and they are relentless. They still have the stamina and appetite for long rallies but now Apri has improved her spatial awareness. She will change the direction of the shuttle in a rally to exploit space. Her appetite for winning the points has sharpened. Of course they are still great defenders and getting winners out of defence is a very powerful way of dominating an opponent.

The Indonesia Masters is done. There is a bigger goal that we are all starting to look at. The Tokyo Olympics is looming. The commentators are all looking at their rivals as favourites for a medal. The strength in depth of the Japanese WD pairs is such that we wonder which of them will miss out in the qualification process; CHEN & JIA are another two challengers who must believe they have a great chance of success.

I would love Greysia Polii and Apriyana Rahayu to be there in the medals, and why not? Here are two players who are so committed to their dream that they have had the courage to reshape their game. The key point is that they have changed; this makes them less predictable and therefore more dangerous. On court they are always mutually supportive, always smiling at each other, it’s obvious they have the temperament to hold their nerve when others crack. Greysia has so much experience of the elite competitions, she knows what is required and she has realised that this is it – no second chances for her now, retirement threatens. I hope we see them on that podium, I hope they stay fit, keep developing and do themselves justice. Go girls!

This is a link to a blog I wrote about them around a year ago https://womensbadminton.co.uk/2019/04/12/a-thriving-partnership-indonesias-polii-and-rahayu/

If you enjoyed this then take a look at my article about the Minions https://womensbadminton.co.uk/2019/11/29/the-minions-indonesian-superheroes/ or this one about one of Greysap’s main rivals Fukuhiro https://womensbadminton.co.uk/2019/11/06/japans-fukuhiro-can-they-win-tokyo-gold/

©2025

Amanda Bloss All Rights Reserved

Susy Susanti: Inspirational Icon

By Ferdinan Utama

Barcelona!

That will be the first answer if you question any badminton lovers or any Indonesian about Susy Susanti. Understandable because she was the first Olympic Gold medalist from Indonesia: that victory in Spain gave the nation joy, pride and put Indonesia’s name on the list of elite countries who have an Olympic gold medal. It made the world take notice of Indonesian badminton.

Whilst the Olympic success is surely her biggest, most famous achievement, she also excelled in the other major tournaments. She burst onto the international stage when she stormed to the final of the All England at the age of 18. Her opponent was LI Lingwei – one of the best women singles of all time – on that occasion she was beaten but she turned defeat into fuel for future triumph.

England became a happy hunting ground for Susy.  Over an extraordinary five years she won the All England title 4 times; this included the last time at Wembley and the first in Birmingham. Ironically, the one she didn’t win is in the year when she won the Olympic gold.  This is more a reflection of the Chinese strength in Women’s Singles at the time rather than any deficiency on her part. In 1993 her successes in England continued when she collected the IBF World Championship Gold; the final in Birmingham was over 3 sets when she beat Bang Soo-hyun of Korea.

Although she is a Women’s Singles player, her understanding of what it means to be part of a team is exemplary.  Her commitment to Indonesian badminton has been unwavering down the years.  A great example of this is the role she has played in her country’s Uber Cup success. By the start of the 1994 competition China was the ruler of women’s team badminton: they had won the previous five editions of the bi-annual event. Indonesia’s last appearance in the final had been in 1986.  The stage was set for something extraordinary.  Whilst the Istora crowd roared, Susi won all her matches.  Buoyed by the first victory, Lili Tampi and Finarsih doubled the team lead before China’s strength in depth showed and they forced it to a decider.  That’s when two future legends squared up for the first time.  The then not yet fifteen Mia Audina beat ZHANG Ning to win the cup on home soil.  Two years later they repeated the feat in Hong Kong to retain the trophy.

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For me, Susy is like a lionness around the badminton court.  Her cold, intimidating stare helped to unnerve her rival across the net as she served. She favoured long rallies, and her attritional style was supported by her stamina which meant she was fit enough to cover every inch of the court through her game.  She fed off opponent’s mistakes and fatigue.  She is known for her athleticism and flexibility; like a gymnast she would get low to take shots at the limit of her reach by an extreme lunge which was more like the splits.

In Atlanta she won her second Olympic medal then finally retired in 98 after the Asian Games citing pregnancy as the main reason. She was off court but could not leave badminton entirely.  Along with her husband Alan Budikusuma she established a racket company called ASTEC. She remain off court and out of the camera’s bright lights until 2008 when destiny called.The Indonesia Uber Cup team was at its lowest. They did not qualify for the 2006 competition in Japan after finishing outside of the top 4 in the qualifying round two years earlier. They only qualified to participate in 2008 because it was being hosted in Jakarta. The published target at that time was just to advance from the group, but that team was headed by Susy as manager.  With her encouragement they achieved much more than that. Not only did they advance from the group stage but they charged into the final with a never say die performance.  Badminton popularity in Indonesia, which has been dimmed since the turn of millenia, suddenly rekindled. So many people were motivated by this feat to start to play or follow badminton again.  We can still see the influence now after that final. I think the current crop of Indonesian young players is partly the result of her impact.

Susy is still the only women’s singles player to hold the All England, the Olympic and the World Championship simultaneously.    She is still the only Indonesia player that has won all the major team and individual events and that includes the Sudirman Cup.  Her achievements mean she is one of the greatest players of all time, a true inspiration to badminton players and fans everywhere.

Follow the link to this article about Polii & Rahayu https://womensbadminton.co.uk/2019/04/12/a-thriving-partnership-indonesias-polii-and-rahayu/ or this one about Marcus & Kevin https://womensbadminton.co.uk/2019/11/29/the-minions-indonesian-superheroes/

Perodua Malaysia Masters 2020

There’s something extra spicy about tournaments this close to the Tokyo Olympics.

Womens Singles Preview

For me, this is the most exhilarating sector in world badminton; the calibre of the athletes outside the top seeds means that shocks and early exits are standard fare.

AN Se Young – Seeded 8

What a breathtaking year 2019 was for this young player: the stand-out result had to be her victory in the final of the French Open against Marin in three sets, but there were plenty of other wins along the way. She’s a great retriever, patient and happy to keep the shuttle in play but there is also a depth of skill to her game at the net which makes it hard for a rival to intimidate her. We shouldn’t think of her as a giantkiller…she is becoming the giant! Prediction: Final

!!UPDATE. AN Se Young crashes out to Saina in R2 to set up a Clash of the Titans with Carolina Marin in the quarter final. What a performance from Saina. The 29 year old beat ASY in straight sets 25-23 21-12. I think this means that her dream of qualifying for Tokyo is still alive. Bravo Saina.

TAI Tzu Ying – Seeded 1

Every badminton fan aches to see TTY in a final. Her sensational skills are a non-stop source of wonder and joy. It’s clear that Coach LAI and her team have the podium in Tokyo as the focus for the year; each of these tournaments form a percentage of her preparation for that. Ultimately beautiful shots – in isolation – will not be enough and I think we are starting to see a realisation that cutting out mistakes and halting the drift of games when she loses momentum are key. Prediction: Final

Akane Yamaguchi – Seeded 4, and Carolina Marin – unseeded

Akane has a nightmarish R1 draw lined up against the unseeded (!) Carolina Marin. She had such a patchy end to 2019 that it’s impossible to say how this encounter will go. Carolina is back and she is hungry.

CHEN Yufei – Seeded 2

Although a lot of attention has been paid to Momota for his supremacy in the men’s singles last year, I think CHEN Yufei’s acheivements have been equal if not better. Arguably she is in a more competitive sector with more variations of style to cope with. She finished the year as World #1, seven titles and she was a member of the triumphant Chinese Sudirman Cup team. She is strategically mature, able to sit and wait or be more agressive depending on her opponent. Prediction: Final

Ratchanok Intanon – Seeded 5

May has won this title for two years in a row and is always a brave player in tight situations. This can be a high risk strategy although I love her for it. A gritty ‘death or glory’ approach means that she is vulnerable to patient players like CHEN Yufei who know that keeping the shuttle in play will eventually lead to an opportunity to score. Prediction: QF

Nozomi Okuhara – Seeded 3

Towards the end of last year I thought Nozomi was introducing more attacking play to her game. She is known as a patient retriever, and that style has been getting her to tournament finals but the issue is that she hasn’t been winning them. She has to alter the balance of her game somehow to give herself a tactical edge. Prediction: Semi Final

Gregoria,Saina,Sindhu,HE

Any one of these four could find themselves in the semi-final but they all need to find some extra sparkle from somewhere. The last twelve months have contained frustration, injury, bad-luck and poor form. What to say about Sindhu? The too-brief period with coach KIM brought a new focus and better technique; a pressure game that crushed all her opponents at the World Championships. Where has that player gone? If she rediscovers that badminton beast she can be unstoppable. Saina has also suffered through a very uneven year with a lot of disruption because of injury and, it seems to me, lack of continuity around her coaching support. Of all the top players she is the one who is in serious danger of missing qualification for the Olympics if she doesn’t turn things around soon. She has the prospect of a R2 against AN Se Young which is going to put her fitness and resolve under heavy scrutiny. Tunjung is a delightful player who just seems to find it difficult to build a momentum of good results. Her R1 game is against May which means that progress is going to be tough but not impossible. HE is consistently a top 8 seeded player without many titles to show for it and I don’t really see that changing anytime soon.

Men’s Singles

Eleven titles for Momota in 2019 and who is going to stop him dominating the Men’s sector this year as well? Technically, strategically and physically he is ahead of his rivals and we know that in the sporting arena athletes are able to remodel their game to give themselves a new edge Recently Yosuke Nakanishi (his coach) has been reported as saying that SHI Yuqi is his biggest rival. I also think that Anthony Ginting – possible quarter final opponent – and Anders Antonsen are dangerous. Within the context of this tournament it is SHI’s recovery from last year’s injury that is crucial; if he is back to full fitness the combined challenge to Momota from the other seeds as he progresses through the competition will give him a good test.

Conclusion

It’s Olympic Year and suddenly every competition seems a little more significant; not only in terms of qualification but also to read the clues as to who could be destined for Gold. Tokyo seems so near and yet there are plenty of tournaments and dramas to enjoy before that. Momota is secure at the top of his sector for now, however the contrast with the woman’s sector couldn’t be clearer. The depth of talent in the woman’s game means that no player is able to dominate. It’ll soon become clear who is starting the new year at a run; sporting momentum is important and the skill of seizing a victory then building on it is crucial. Who has the hunger to succeed?

If you enjoyed this preview here is my recent in-depth look at Momota https://womensbadminton.co.uk/2019/12/27/kento-momota/ and this one about AN Se Young https://womensbadminton.co.uk/2019/07/08/an-se-young-koreas-sensational-17-year-old/

©2025

Amanda Bloss All Rights Reserved

Chinese Men’s Doubles

China is traditionally one of the powerhouses of world badminton. There have been times when their players have been able to totally dominate tournaments and yet now, if we look at the portfolio of athletes there are some vulnerabilities. In Men’s Doubles particularly, there is such a depth of ability in other countries – for example from Indonesia and Japan – that I think they will struggle to make an impact in Tokyo unless changes happen. The coaching setup is second-to-none and when it was announced back in September that for the first time they had signed up non-Chinese coaches (Kang Kyung Jin and Yoo Yong Sung from Korea) there was an implicit admission that improvements were needed.

These are some of the thoughts of Daniel DM who looked at the key pairs in the sector

LIU Yuchen & LI Junhui – Current Status: World #4

The 2018 World Champions have been partners since they were juniors and back in 2017 briefly achieved world #1 status. They are two tall hard-hitters who can find a lot of attacking power. They prefer to play at a fast pace but they have the ability to vary this when they meet highspeed opponents; so for example they will slow the tempo to frustrate Kevin and Marcus when they face them. Yuchen has great net play: his height allows him the advantage of a long reach so passing him is tricky. He can often seize control of a rally right at the start by his flat, forceful serve returns. Junhui’s strength can penetrate walls, so his muscles are a massive asset in any game. Unusually for such tall men they are light on their feet with very smooth movement and good spatial awareness.

There are some weaknesses. They can break super defensive opponents, but sometimes it doesn’t work. For example, at the World Tour Finals in 2019 LI/LIU became very frustrated when facing Endo/Watanabe and it had an impact on their gameplay. Their shots became monotonous and lacked variation. They tried smashing but of course – in that super slow hall – it didn’t work. The Endo/Watanabe counter-attack could destroy them easily. They also can struggle with an effective response to flat, fast shots that come just over the net. Rankireddy & Shetty have used this strategy against them and they can, on occasion, find it hard to escape that trap once momentum has turned against them. However, they are both gritty fighters who can cope with pressure; in the final of the 2018 Thomas Cup we saw them hold steady and defend two match points before converting one of their own to gain victory for the Chinese team.

HAN Chengkai & ZHOU Haodong – Current Status World #11

Winners of the BWF Most Promising Player award in 2018 these two really rose to prominance in that year. They are fierce and love to attack; if an opponent tries to match them they feed off speed and can boss the game. Surprisingly over the past year their defence has become a little fragile, but they have a strong defence in a slow hall, with fast pace. A MD pair like Kevin/Marcus have a hard time beating them. But for pairs that are patient with a strong defence (like Kamura/Sonoda, Astrup/Rasmussen & Boe/Conrad) they can lose; rivals have to control the tempo and then they are more vulnerable.

HE Jiting & TAN Qiang – Current Status World #15

These are a really fascinating duo because they don’t fit the usual pattern of Chinese MD. I have noticed that they play at a different tempo to the others, they are not so quick, more moderate and so this allows them to play a more tactically varied game. They bring more to tournaments than the MD standard of hard smashes and fast movement. They have an effective dropshot and are good allrounders. HE also plays mixed doubles with DU Yue and I believe that this influences his style; he is good at covering his partner defensively from the rear court.

DI Zijiang & WANG Chang – Current Status World #33

The upcoming juniors play at a high tempo with fast reactions and plenty of power. Their style has a lot of agility, they are happy to chase and put pressure on their rivals. It’s going to be fascinating to see them step up into the senior ranks; they need to improve their defence but they have time to work on this.

Conclusions

There are two phrases that keep cropping up: fast and powerful. These are the skills that we traditionally associate with Men’s Doubles but on their own they are not enough. With all the resources available to the elite players in China we should see them challenging more consistently for the top positions on the podium. What does 2020 hold? It’s going to be exciting finding out.

If you enjoyed this take a look at this article about the Minions https://womensbadminton.co.uk/2019/11/29/the-minions-indonesian-superheroes/ or this one about CHEN Yufei https://womensbadminton.co.uk/2019/04/03/another-sensational-player-from-china-chen-yu-fei/

Review of the Year

I wanted to share some happy memories of 2019. I think it’s been a tremendous year, bursting with great shots, great games and great athletes. This is a very biased, partial view of the year and I’m sure I’ve probably missed out some of your favourites. Feel free to comment below or via twitter. We are lucky to be fans of such an amazing sport.

The Daddies have been outstanding over the past twelve months. The All England Final was an emotionally draining masterclass by Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan. At first it seemed that the calf injury to Setiawan was going to hamper their chances of the title. Aaron Chia & Soh Wuui Yik took the first set and as a ‘neutral’ embedded deep within a massive group of Malaysian fans I thought they were heading for victory. However, gradually it became apparent that the Indonesians were not going to accept silver medals. Their self-belief and tactical nous gave a vital edge and they took the deciding set 21-12; it was a dramatic, exhausting match to watch.

In isolation I would say this victory was brilliant but in the context of their successes in winning the World Championship in Basle and the BWF World Tour Final we have to acknowledge that these two are titans of the world game. I would LOVE to see them on the podium in Tokyo.

AN Se Young: the 2019 BWF Most Promising Player of the Year. In January she was ranked at 99 but by December she had risen to 9, that probably tells you all you need to know about the thrilling year she has had. As a raw talent she stunned fans with victories over Saina, Akane & Marin to win the French Open Super 750. She has no need to fear any other competitor now. She has a touch of Momota about her; patient with a great defence, she has the fitness to challenge a high tempo style and the endurance to rattle flair players. I hope she stays injury free, there is no limit to what she could achieve in 2020.

MomoGi: the rivalry between the seemingly invincible Kento Momota and Anthony Ginting has illuminated the men’s game this year.

We have witnessed some beautiful, inspiring play from Anthony and amazing stubborn resistence from Kento. As far as 2019 goes, the titles (all eleven of them) have been taken home to Japan. Momota has been immense; Anthony’s skills are fuel for his fire. Their matches never disappoint, whatever the result. 2020 will be a career-defining year for Momota and everyone has their eye on that Tokyo podium.

The English Victory Over The Danes in the Sudirman Cup: England were magnificent in this clash of the Europeans. Lauren Smith & Chloe Birch – over 3 thrilling sets – clinched it in the final match.

BWF World Junior Mixed Team Championships: I was lucky enough to get caught up in the twitter enthusiasm for this otherwise I would’ve missed a treat. Bobby Setiabudi, Daniel Marthin, Leo Rolly Carnando, Putri Kusuma Wardani, Febriana Dwipuji Kusuma, Putri Syaikah & Inda Cahya Sari Jamil – You were SENSATIONAL!

P V Sindhu with Rankireddy/Shetty. It’s been an uneven year for Indian badminton as a whole but there were two bright patches. Sindhu’s brief collaboration with coach KIM landed her the World Championship in unstoppable style. She completely annihilated Nozomi in the final with an impressive display of pressure badminton. However, she has not been able to achieve any sort of consistency to her play and has crashed out in the early rounds of tournaments; I really regret the loss of KIM, I think she could’ve got Sindhu back onto the Olympic podium, now, I’m not so sure. Satwiksairaj Rankireddy & Chirag Shetty, the winners of the Thailand Open Super 500, on the other hand, could be a good outside tip for a medal. I love their high tempo whole-hearted style.

I can’t quite believe I’ve come to the end without mentioning The Queen: Tai Tzu Ying. Of all the players competing at the moment she will always bring something extraordinary to the court. I want 2020 to be a year of incredible badminton for us to enjoy. Let’s hope that the athletes continue to inspire and excite all of us.

I didn’t even touch on the Minions. If you’d like to read more about them follow this link https://womensbadminton.co.uk/2019/11/29/the-minions-indonesian-superheroes/ and here is the blog about the World Champion P V Sindhu https://womensbadminton.co.uk/2019/08/25/p-v-sindhu-world-champion/

©2025

Amanda Bloss All Rights Reserved

Kento Momota

Momota has been the dominant force in Men’s Singles all through 2019, his consistency and strength are second to none.  It’s no surprise then, that after such an electrifying twelve months, his position as World #1 is very firmly fixed. King Kento triumphed over Viktor Axelson in the course of 3 dramatic games at the 2019 Yonex All England Championships and in doing so became the first Japanese man to win the title. His outstanding year earned him a total of 11 titles; it’s extraordinary to reflect that he has played in 73 matches and only lost 6.   It’s hard to pinpoint who will challenge this relentless excellence anytime soon.

The key to the left-hander’s success is his domination of the net and the forecourt which allows him to control the progress of the duel.  He is so fit he dictates the tempo of the contest.  He is brilliant at game management because he is strategically quick witted – this allows anticipation to be a significant part of his armoury.  If he misjudges his opponent’s tactics, he is electric around the court; his fast feet and lovely balance allow him to reach any area. This translates into further pressure for his opponent as they search for undefended space.  As we would expect from an elite player, technically he is very accomplished with powerful and precise shots. The knack of swiftly spinning defence into attack rushes his rivals and means he can gain more time for himself.

His superb all-round game is underpinned by his athleticism.  Lean and tall, his muscle to weight ratio gives him the perfect physique for badminton.  It’s well known that he completes additional work in the gym long after his hitting partners have showered and returned home.  A day off is a distraction from the training regime he is immersed in. He is driving himself to find that extra percentage point of fitness that can make the difference between triumph and defeat at the top level of sport.  Winning a singles match over three games can become a war of attrition; perpetual movement is all.  We have all seen collapses from cramp as players push themselves into their red zone.  Once an opponent starts to falter physically Momota will ruthlessly force the issue and gain an inevitable win.

It’s been said that he can sometimes sit back and be too passive, it’s true that he can be patient but when the time is right, he explodes into action and will seize the match. Choosing shots to keep a rival off balance – even a simple sequence to move them around the corners – means that sooner or later the opportunity will open up to win the rally; it doesn’t seem to matter to the left-hander if the rally lasts 30,40, or 50 shots, inevitably his opponent ends up running further, becoming tired and making a mistake.  He knows that opponents’ errors cost will them the match; being patient is – paradoxically – a sharp sword in his strategic make up.  He often does not need to use his full repertoire; through a competition he can perform within himself and get a good result.

Playing against Momota is like becoming trapped in a maze; whichever tactics are employed they seem to lead to the dead end of defeat.   He is impenetrable.  Alone on the court with no partner to protect him he has to be emotionally self-reliant and confident in his own decisions.  Defensively he can soak up pressure endlessly without using up too much energy.  Victory in men’s singles often rests upon stamina, mental strength, and the sparing use of explosive power to punish mistakes.

Right now, he is getting further and further out of the reach of his rivals.  His opponent at the Yonex All England 2019 final – Viktor Axelsen – has subsequently had an injury disrupted year and is only just starting to compete again at a good level.  The Dane is famous for his 400 kph smash but this isn’t enough against Momota.  In fact, the energy used for a smash can often contribute to defeat.  CHOU Tien Chen, the world #2, has endurance and mental fortitude to equal him and will always ask tough questions in a match. The adorable SHI Yuqui – the 2018 YAE champion – has also suffered from injury problems, but if he was fully fit it is arguable that he would be the player to upset the World #1. In their Sudirman Cup match this year it was Momota who succumbed to accuracy, relentless athleticism and an unmatchable will to win. 

I think his most interesting rival is Anthony Ginting despite what the world rankings say.  Ginting’s sparkling style, his inventiveness, courage and speed push Momota to new heights.  They inspire each other but it seems that this inspiration feeds the Japanese’s ambition and leaves Anthony unrewarded. 

At the moment he is unstoppable.  Over the years his career has taken a lot of twists and turns – including an enforced absence from Rio 2016 – but now it feels as though his time for greatness is approaching.  His desire for success, his realisation that the Tokyo Olympics offers the chance of immortality, and possibly a need to make up for his mistakes in the past all give an irresistible vitality to his performances on court.  The devastating effect that C-19 has had on the world means that all athletes are enduring a career hiatus. I’m confident that Momota has the mental strength to endure this delay. 2020 was the year his fans regarded with the highest expectations – so now we wait a little longer. Will 2021 be the year that Kento Momota cements his place amongst the legends of the game?

Here’s my recent article about Momota’s trickiest rival https://womensbadminton.co.uk/2019/11/25/anthony-sinisuka-ginting/

Here are links to blogs about other members of the Japanese team https://womensbadminton.co.uk/2019/11/06/japans-fukuhiro-can-they-win-tokyo-gold/ there is also this one about Akane https://womensbadminton.co.uk/2019/08/09/japans-akane-yamaguchi-hotter-than-july/ and this about Nozomi https://womensbadminton.co.uk/2019/04/23/nozomi-okuhara-racket-ready-for-tokyo-glory/

This is a version of an article I originally wrote for the Yonex All England website https://www.allenglandbadminton.com/

©2025

Amanda Bloss All Rights Reserved

TAI Tzu Ying: The QUEEN

TAI Tzu Ying is a brilliant player; her style on court is spine-tingling. Peerless racket skills have elevated her to superstar status and she is an athlete loved around the world as the best of her generation.   Coach LAI, who was head coach of the Taiwan national team, resigned after the Korean Open to focus solely on TTY.  It is the coach’s responsibity to enable their player fulfil their potential. Beautiful shots side by side with errors in a game do not equal medals and will ultimately be unsatisfactory. We don’t know much of what happens in TTY’s training sessions but mistakes and concentration drift have cost her titles this year. This is the time to be single-minded about ambition.

2019 has seen three major tournament wins: the Danish, Malaysian and Singapore Opens.  The quality of the athletes who contest Women’s Singles competitions is reflected in this; it’s the most finely balanced and competitive of the five sectors. Matches with people like Akane, Marin, AN Se Young, and Sindhu mean there are no easy victories.  As the winner of the Yonex All England in the two previous years, 2019 saw her arrive in Birmingham as the favourite, but she failed in her bid to make it a hattrick of victories when she lost in the final to the Chinese player CHEN Yufei. History repeated itself at the BWF World Tour Finals when she lost in three sets to a determined and patient Yufei. Badminton immortality beckons but can she cement her status as one of the all-time greats?

 There is no other player on earth who can execute the shots she has; her technical skill is unmatched in the women’s game.    What is it that makes her stand apart from her peers? She is the Queen of deception.  The creative imagination she brings to her play is exquisite.  As spectators it is futile to predict where she will place the shuttle so she constantly surprises and delights us.  The variety of angles and control of pace she can achieve is quite unbelievable. Her backhand, on the turn, on the run and taken late is wonderful to see.

Of course, this style of play creates huge problems for her rivals.  The psychological pressure that she exerts is immense.  Most top players build an element of anticipation into their movement on court because the earlier they reach the shuttle the more time they will have to play the shot they want.  TTY takes time away from her opponents as they can never quite predict what she will do.  Angles which may seem impossible to mere mortals pose no problems for her to create.  She likes to be on the attack and can cover the court’s four corners easily. 

Interestingly, against players like Ratchanok Intanon (who is probably closest to her in terms of style) the match often turns into a series of “anything you can do I can do better”.  The duels between these two feature jaw-dropping precision, mutual admiration and good humour.  They are both courageous players who routinely ignore the percentages and dare themselves to aim for the edge. This leads me to suspect that TTY plays mainly for the love of the game.  She revels in her skills and enjoys perfecting a shot; she will often try the same one 3 or 4 times in a match until she can get it right.

She would be invincible if not for a tendency to lose focus at times.  Often, she will win the first game but then lose her grip on the second.  Sometimes this has catastrophic consequences.  Momentum is a key feature of success in many sports; if an adversary like Carolina Marin or AN Se Young is given the opportunity to get into their rhythm it can be tough to get the initiative back.  This has been the feature of some of her losses in the past.  In this year’s final of the Yonex All England CHEN Yu Fei just would not allow TTY to get into the game; she kept the pressure and pace high and won in straight games. At the World Tour Finals it went to three games and there was the suggestion that the coin toss and the drift in the hall were key players. However, that is a disservice to CHEN Yufei who had to battle back into the match after being annihilated in the first set. CYF wrestled the direction of the game from her, then refused to return it, however hard Tzu Ying tried.

She is the centre of a close-knit group of people who support her on and off court.  Her father still strings her rackets in a slightly idiosyncratic pattern, she’ll post images of herself and her team off-duty, obviously enjoying each other’s company climbing a mountain in Taiwan or out dining together.  She also shares pictures of her team working with her in the gym, preparing her body for the demands of this explosive athletic sport. She is famous for her six-pack, which she seems to maintain alongside a taste for ice-cream and French fries.

 Her spontaneous genius means she is an icon of modern worldwide badminton.  Is she the greatest ever Women’s Singles player?  Her brilliance is a joyful expression of the best of the game but I think she needs some key titles to secure her iconic status.  To land her third All England title in March would be a sign of intent, but we are all gazing at the Gold medal on offer in Tokyo.

I’ll give the last word to GEL, one of her biggest fans:

“She’s the QUEEN – That’s all you need to know!”

Here is a link to my celebration of her triumph at the All England in 2020 https://womensbadminton.co.uk/2020/03/23/tai-tzu-ying-the-triple-champion/

An earlier version of this was published on the Yonex All England website in November 2019 https://www.allenglandbadminton.com/

Here is a link to an earlier piece I wrote about her https://womensbadminton.co.uk/2019/07/01/tai-tzu-ying-goddess-or-mortal/ and this one about AN Se Young https://womensbadminton.co.uk/2019/07/08/an-se-young-koreas-sensational-17-year-old/

©2025

Amanda Bloss All Rights Reserved