All posts tagged: Badminton strategy

‘India tried to confuse us… It means we are scaring big teams’ – Frenchman Lanier after Thomas Cup win over India | Badminton News

‘India tried to confuse us… It means we are scaring big teams’ – Frenchman Lanier after Thomas Cup win over India | Badminton News

3 min readMay 3, 2026 06:00 AM IST It was a straightforward loss of three singles from India to France’s top 3, all ranked in Top 20. But Frenchman Alex Lanier believed it was deep strategy that India was using to confuse France. Thomas Cups can get wild, like that. France ended up evicting Indonesia, Japan and India in succession to become first non-Denmark European team to make Thomas Cup finals since England in 1984. Lanier, World No 10, had prepared and strategised for Ayush Shetty. But India decided to rest Lakshya Sen in first singles. Which meant a very docile Kidambi Srikanth fetched up to play second singles, and was beaten 21-16, 21-18 not before giving the Frenchman a few rallies to ponder over, as his deception cut into the pace and tempo of Lanier. Lanier though reckoned the move was aimed at boggling the French. Sen had rammed his elbow into the floor and suffered an impact shock, besides complaining of blisters. Lanier though thought it was a plan to field Srikanth to …

How the Chinese have approached the puzzle of the unbeatable An Se-young?

How the Chinese have approached the puzzle of the unbeatable An Se-young?

There are some stunning pointers to the An Se-young-Chen Yufei rivalry that are thanks only to the surfeit of matches they play, in what is otherwise a much-maligned badminton circuit, where top names keep running into each other. Injury to Yufei intervened to deny another chapter to this saga at Malaysia. But the two have met 28 times at all sorts of big and small venues, which means the last two Olympic champions are embroiled in a loopy repetitive battle, as high-viz as construction supervisors’ neons when working the night shift. It stands out in the fog. Make no mistake – the high propensity to battle, the voluminous quantity hasn’t dulled the quality in their games, though scorelines are varied, and subject to fitness, from straight sets with single digit points to three set epics. But the rivalry that started in 2018 (same year as when Sincaraz turned pro, and have tallied 16 matches, with 10 to Alcaraz), is currently 28-matches long, poised tantalizingly at 14-14. The aforementioned stunning stat isn’t how there’s almost parity, …

All England badminton: Lakshya Sen faces Jonatan test in second round | Badminton News

All England badminton: Lakshya Sen faces Jonatan test in second round | Badminton News

Ahead of his opening round at the All England Open, former finalist Lakshya Sen was thrown a curveball. In the lead-up he was preparing for Japan’s Koki Watanabe, but when the draw was finalised after withdrawals on Monday, Chinese Taipei’s Su Li Yang was promoted in Watanabe’s place, and it reflected in the way the Indian started the match. “It was a tricky one,” Lakshya told BWF after his 13-21, 21-17, 21-15 win. In the first game, the Indian seemed taken aback and not at his best. “I just got to know the previous evening that I’m playing him. Su is a tough opponent and I couldn’t find my rhythm in the first game… but I’m happy with the way I stuck in there. He’s quite an attacking player from the net, and he came in with a good approach. This is something for me to keep in mind going forward, I need to start better.”On Thursday, starting better will be a non-negotiable for Lakshya. In front of him will be a player keen to …

All England Open: PV Sindhu stumped by Kim Ga Eun’s crosscourt puzzle, knocked out in the first round | Badminton News

All England Open: PV Sindhu stumped by Kim Ga Eun’s crosscourt puzzle, knocked out in the first round | Badminton News

At 20-12 in the first game of her first-round match at the All England Open, PV Sindhu appeared to be in complete control against Kim Ga Eun. The World No. 21, at her best, has a typically sturdy Korean defence that can’t be breached easily. Just a few seconds before Sindhu had all those game points, Kim won a point she had no right winning… first retrieving the shuttle off balance after it hit the net cord and changed direction, and then playing a defensive block while squatting when Sindhu had a kill shot lined up at the net. It was the first sign of a Korean revival. From 12-20, Kim won seven straight points as Sindhu’s radar started misfiring. The Indian did win the first game 21-19 eventually, but that was from a wild error by Kim and the reaction from Sindhu said it all. There was no joy, just frustration mixed in with some relief. She was in the lead, but could sense the Korean taking charge. That run of points at the …