Right, Chen Yufei is gaining in experience and growing in maturity and has become a more thinking player. The best (or scary ) part is she is still capable of improving.
Her performance beginning with a narrow victory over Sayaka Sato in R1 and being stretched to three-setters by Chochuwong Pornpawee made me thought at first she wasn't in good form. On hindsight, it could be that both Sato and Pornapawee are in fine form while at the same time it could be that Chen Yufei was on the cusp of transitioning to another level and the first sign of breakthrough came during her match with Intanon against whom she enjoys a psychological advantage but the way she pushed Intanon aside in G2 and G3 was telling.
Then another more convincing sign of her breakthrough came when she fought back from a set down after briefly leading in G1 to take the next two sets against Marin. After that spirited win which was a huge boost to her confidence and inner belief, Chen Yufei was in full flow and her breakthrough was complete in the final match with Nozomi against whom she unleashed her all-round game with fluidity and masterclass display of top quality badminton.
After watching the replays of her matches with Intanon Ratchanok, Carolina Marin and Nozomi Okuhara, I noticed a marked improvement in Chen Yufei's attack and defense and an added dose of deception that was missing previously. Also I sensed that CYF has to a certain extent acquired the ability to think for herself during play and find solutions to problems she faces whether caused by her opponents or due to herself - I actually saw her on TV mumbling to herself and then nodding as if to say, 'Ok,I got it' even when the coaches weren't shouting any instructions to her as she didn't turn back to look at them in acknowledgement ( and it's not all the time that the coaches do that in between points). To my pleasant surprise when I read the above article, she admitted as much when she said," Having played many tournaments and accumulated more experience, my mindset is more steady and mature now. During the Uber Cup, I was nervous on court, unable to adjust myself particularly well, at times my mind went blank and I could barely cope with the game (instinctively). Now I can patiently and steadily find solutions according to the situations."
For now, if anything, the only area I'd like to see her build on is her physique, maybe by 5 to 10%, as I personally feel that she is at the moment clearly inferior in physicality to a number of her main rivals, such as Tai Tzu Ying, Carolina Marin, Nozomi Okuhara, Akane Yamaguchi, and the resurgent Saina Nehwal, not to mention a couple of the lower ranked European players such as Mia Blichfeldt.