In my humble opinion, I venture to say,Shi Yuqi, in the month or so and up to the Sudirman Cup triumph, notably in the way he thumped Momota in the final, was on the verge of making a breakthrough in the next tournament or two , thus opening a new chapter in the early years of his career.
But, unfortunately, as fate would have it, he accidentally sustained an ankle injury at the INA Open in July that forced him out of action for several months now. It couldn't have come at a worse time, that during the OG QF period, which not only set him back in the race to Tokyo 2020 but also stymied his rise to the next level.
As a matter of fact, the injury undid all his gains the previous months, wiping off whatever actual or psychological advantage he might have acquired over Momota, and practically resetting everything, going back to square one and having start all over again in his attempt to pose a serious challenge to the reigning world champion and consistent world ranked number one, Kento Momota.
In CBA, as I've said before, there's a saying that for every month an athlete in a physically-demanding sport is laid off, s/he would require double that amount of time to get back to his pre-injury form. So, based on that supposition, as SYQ 's injury layoff started in July and he is slated to return to competition at the coming Macau Open end of the month (discounting the Victor China Open last month where he was obviously in no shape to play as he was just too anxious to garner some ranking points for fear of falling too far behind), it should be at most some time in end April or May next year that he can regain his former form, assuming it goes smoothly for him.
Even then, there is no knowing if or when he could make that supposed delayed or disrupted breakthrough in his game and start to pose a real threat to Momota again. That's why, I fear, all in all, it may take him up to a year beginning from next month, November, for him to reach that state crucial to vying for the most-coveted gold medal. But, by then, the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, held 24th July to 9th August would be over, sadly. Unless, optimistically, he made it to the top in just nine months, coinciding with the commencement of the Olympics. That would be marvelous indeed; the stuff of fairy tales.
Allow me to qualify my proposition by pointing out that the Momota whom Shi Yuqi bested commandingly in that sensational Sudirman Cup final is not the same Momota today who won the just-concluded Denmark Open in style, stamping his authority on all his opponents, including Chen Long. As we also know, which bears repeating, Momota in that much-talked-about Sudirman Cup debacle was labouring under difficult conditions with tremendous pressure in a do-or-die, must-win situation with Team Japan already 2-0 down after losing the opening men's doubles and women's singles matches before the men's singles match was played.
In other words, the current Momota is at another level, there is, therefore, without a doubt even more work for Shi Yuqi to do, much more ground to cover, for him to catch up with his biggest rival, the undisputed numero uno at the moment, the hot favourite in any tournament he plays, all the way to Tokyo, presumably. Unquestionably, a daunting task for Shi Yuqi in the months, nay, year ahead, the more so for someone just coming back from an injury layoff.
The above is all just my personal opinion. For now, I can only earnestly hope and look forward to seeing Shi Yuqi's return. May it be a roaring successful comeback for the rising star in the making, Shi Yuqi. Jiayou!
