Shi Yuqi ( 石宇奇 )

Let's not forget not everyone is special talent like Lin Dan. Chen Long is not special but he is hard working and has achieve a lot
more than what other people would have expected of his style.

 

Wow, Shi Yuqi clawing back from way behind in G1, 4-12, 6-14, 7-16, at various points, then leveled it 18-all before stealing, I mean grabbing it, 22-20, is phenomenal.

It reminds me of what Sun Jun often urged him, " Believe in yourself." If he can do it more often, that is, let himself go and play freely, I believe he is quite a handful for (almost) all his opponents.

 

What a match by SYQ against Momota at the Sudirman Cup. This version of SYQ will be dangerous if he can reproduce it at the WC and Olympic Games next year. We will see, but the SYQ in the 2nd and 3rd set against Momota today was definitely dangerous and we can see why he was picked over LD at this Surdiman Cup.

If SYQ keeps up this pace and/or wins more tournaments before the Olympics next year, LD will be fighting Chen Long for the 2nd spot to represent China at the Olympics.

 

This is the kind of Shi Yuqi that needs to appear more in the future - Supreme Shi Yuqi.
Super aggressive and just keeps on the pressure. Even Momota was blinded and dazzled by the sudden boost.
There is no need to play slow, boring, grinding rallies like Momota, just insert a more aggressive approach when playing matches.
Look how well he played and the reigning World Champion was out of the game instantly.
Good mentality too, able to change his plan right away after losing the first game!

 

He still has to beat Axelsen more before Im imressed for real

 

It's style of play and the ability to read the opponent. I think SYQ and Ginting match up better against Momota (although Momota still has a better H2H against these 2). Viktor has a terrible H2H record against Momota and for whatever reason, Viktor's style of play is easily read by Momota while Viktor has a difficult time reading Momota.

Viktor's style counters SYQ pretty well. And SYQ's style counters Momota better than Viktor's style.

 

Sun Jun, Shi Yuqi's mentor, his evaluation of his favourite disciple is proving true when he said what's holding back SYQ, hindering his progress and preventing him from fully realizing his true potential is his mindset, specifically his lack of self-confidence and inner belief.

As we've witnessed once in a while, whenever he played freely without worrying about victory or defeat too much, his talents are in full play, sweeping aside all opposition. His resounding win over Momota today at the Sudirman Cup final as well as his previous besting of the same player at the World Tour Finals last December are testament to his outstanding talent.

Let's not forget he is still only 23 years old, born 28 February 1996, the day he finally becomes significantly more mature, experienced, self-possessed and, most importantly, really consistent in the quality of his shotmaking , including a wide repertoire of shots by being more creative, deceptive and good reading of the game - there is no stopping him from attaining his goals and fulfilling his dreams in badminton, I believe.

(In case you're wondering why I mentioned SYQ's maturity as an issue, it's because in one of Sun Jun's comments of him, he felt SYQ was acting childish engaging in a tit-for-tat with some of the netizens who posted nasty and offensive remarks on his microblog, including name-calling, in criticism of his appalling performances, for example, when he beat his seniors Chen Long and Lin Dan convincingly only to lose in humiliating fashion to LCW and Momota in the finals of some tournaments.)

 

Just caught up via Youtube, SYQ should have won it in 2 i feel,
he came out and tried to play a measured game and played right into KM's comfort zone,
once his game plan changed in the 2nd game, different result,
KM can play that defensive, consistent and neat net game all day long,
and he's one player i feel really looks forward to a 3 setter as he normally wears his opponents out by then,
but varying the pace and punching him with aggression when the opportunity comes,
then it's a different game, apart from SYQ, i feel Ginting does that very well.

Anyway, my days are Forever Amber from todays result, well done team China.

 

Shi Yuqi needs to be more consistent with the current state when he beat Kento Momota. Last meeting in All England semifinal, he ran out of idea how to handle Axelsen.

Interesting fact that pointing out all Shi YQ-Momota encounters happened in China, 6 tournaments so far : BAC 2018 & 2019, Nanjing WChampionships 2018, CHN Open 2018, Guangzhou WT Finals 2018 and yesterday Sudirman Cup Final.

 

Perhaps SYQ could have won it in 2 games, or KM may have came back more determined in G2 if he had lost the first. We will never know. But one thing for sure is that SYQ employed the right strategy imo, one that echoes the way LD plays against some players - which is to use G1 to tire out the opponent without expending too much energy - even if it meant losing G1. Then increase speed in G2 and G3 when you have the upper hand.

It was clear in G2 and G3 that KM could not keep up. SYQ clearly upped the pace and intensity further tiring KM. Usually a fully fit KM would be able to increase pace to match but it may have been a combination of fatigue from previous matches and energy used to win G1 that prevented him from doing so.

It's interesting how KM seems to struggle so much against SYQ compared to any other player and looking at his recent losses to SYQ there are a few things I've picked up on. It's pretty clear that KM is finding it difficult to read SYQ's attack and this is probably hurting him the most. But how is SYQ doing this to him? I think it is a combination of SYQ's initial racquet preparation, holding the position (and thereby his opponent) that delays KM's early anticipation but SYQ also seems to have a very short and fast action on his over head which he manages to generate quite a lot of power from. Coupling this with the steep angles and mixing up of overhead shots, KM simply has no idea where it is going. I particularly like the way SYQ uses his height to play incredibly steep half smashes.

KM is a player that really doesn't like covering the whole court, it compromises him significantly and tires him out as he doesn't have the best reach. So he anticipates and commits to the two most likely corners. But with SYQ hitting consistently close to the lines, perfect lifts, steep angles and consistent net play, KM's court coverage has gotten a lot larger. This makes him tire more and unable to anticipate as much.

A lot of players have worked out that KM is reluctant to attack when the shuttle's trajectory is just high enough and deep. As KM does not jump to his FH/BH corners, and typically looks to play a passive shot to neutralize the threat, his opponents can make him scramble around until he makes a small error. But he has a fantastic ability to play high quality neutralising shots from seemingly compromised situations.

I think KM needs to look to play more aggressive and really put in the effort to get behind the shuttle quicker and attack it rather than continually playing back to the net with the shuttle behind him. He was also not using his outstanding net play enough nor was he playing enough deceptive shots. His lifts were also too low/short on occasions.

However of the two players I personally don't think we have seen the best SYQ yet. Sure, KM can also improve too but I see greater scope for SYQ to improve. I think if he can develop a little more speed and deception, he would be even more devastating.