APACS finapi 232

Last week my small cousin was playing with my Nanoray 03 tour and clashed it with his partner. Poor fellow was very upset to have broken the racket though I did not say anything to him. He tried to find the racket in stores/online but in vain. I told him to forget about it and concentrate on his doubles game.

5 days later (on Thursday) he came to me with a new racket from APACS. He bought 3 pieces of Finapi 232 and gave me one as replacement of the broken racket. I have played with various Yonex and Lining rackets but this APACS was the first time.

So not to subdue my enthusiasm of a new racket, i got it strung with BG66 force at 27 pounds. on Friday i took it to the court and here are some of my observations.

Racket: Apacs finapi 232
Price: approx 2,500 rupees India (USD 40)
Balance: even
Size: 675mm
Grip size: small as per lining.
Weight: 82-85 gms max
String: BG66P 27lbs
Shuttle: RSL03

Clears:
Started by hitting some clears. Smooth and high. My technique is very snappy while hitting clears and smashes hence I did not have any complains with the distance it travelled. I gave it to one of my co-players (uses ZFii 4U) to hit a few clears and he was only able to clear 70% of the shots effectively. Since its light weight, one has to put that extra snap or pronation to get the best out of it. All in all I am satisfied with the clears and unless you have weak wrists you will love clearing with this.

Smash:
This is the weakest area of this racket. I smash reasonably well but I was unable to put any kind of sting into my smash. It was getting countered easily and I was scampering all over the rear court from smash side to backhand side. there was a time when I had to think twice in dicy smash situations whether to smash or not. This undoubtedly is the weakest area of this racket.

Stick Smash or Half chops:
Adaptability is the name of the game. When I was unsure about smashing, I experimented with stick smash. Boy they go down wonderfully. Combining stick smash with full smash (60:40) became a lethal combination. While they retrieve the full smash easily, these stick smash were so deadly angled that they had to move up 2 steps to recover them. This give me clear opportunity to hit some full smashes to the body / forehand body parts which were easily killed later by my partner at the nets. Bottomline is the flex of the racket is helping here and the balance allows your wrists to break easily all the time.

Drives:
Wow... Just wow. I must say this animal drives like a Porche. Fast and furious. If you like flat play in your game (which I do) this weapon you will lovr instantly. Beleive me, i was driving at max speeds on my forehand side with my right hand completely cramped. The racket was so stable that I could easily adjust my pronation even when I hardly have any room to relax my forearm. 10/10 here.

Defense:
This is the best aspect of this racket. You can and you will retrieve every bloody fly that tries to pass you If your technique is correct, this racket is unparalleled when it comes to defensive capabilities. I can easily compare this with my Lining Windstorm 620 or the ARC11. I counter smashes a lot and I was not only able yo counter it, but also put acute angles for my front court opponent. 10/10 here too.

Conclusion:
I took it to a friendly match yesterday for an inter club tournament. This club had only one court and overally small size badminton court room. This meant that the shuttle would travel fast based on the conditions and it prompted me to take out the Finapi 232, since I would get some aid in smashing from the environment. We defeated our opponents 21-16, 21-18. I played some furious flat game from the rear court coupled with stick smashing a lot which helped by partner to kill from the front. This racket is extremely suited for furious drives if you can manage the speed of a drive based game pattern.
For USD 40, if this serves me for 6 months, i will be very very happy. The build quality if pretty good but nor as good as Yonex mid range rackets. As long as there is no serious clash, this will serve you for long. Hopw you find this review helpful. I will be happy to respond to your questions.
Lastly, this is a doubles racket. Do not try singles with it, unless you strongly beleive that you outplay your opponent in stamina.

Cheers.