Liu Yi – Steve’s Badminton Blog and Website

Liu Yi’s performance in the semi finals of the Asia Badminton Championship is really a step up in his game. He has always been a young man with great potential. He has an almost impenetrable defense, absolutely amazing. And he has a very potent attack to match. Let’s discuss.

It’s been a while since Chinese men’s doubles has been this exciting. Wang Chan and Liang Wei Keng was tipped to be the new blood which would revitalize Chinese badminton’s weak spot: men’s doubles. But, their erratic performance of late has made it clear that they are not the long term answer. Once players figured out how to play against them, Wang Chan and Liang Wei Keng just could not reach the highs they reached when they burst onto the scene.

The search for the next big thing in Chinese men’s double continues. There have not been another great pairing from China to dominate the scenes since Fu Haifeng and Cai Yun.

But then I saw then 19 year old Liu Yi in action. I was surprised at his level of play. Quick reflex, with an impenetrable defense and a very good attack. What caught my eye the most was his attitude on court.

His attitude towards defense is just exempary. He would hunt down every shuttle on his side of the court like a starving wolf chasing prey. If the shuttle is near him, you can bet it will be heading in the direction no matter what. His mindset here is that of “It ain’t coming down on my side!”. Every smash near him, he would repel it back. Every drop shot near him, he is going to get it back, even if it meant him diving and sliding on the court with his sweaty body just to reach it. Every attack away from him, he is going to lunge or dive or run to get it. There was nothing which he would not chase down, no matter how far, or how fast, or how hard.

When it was his turn to attack, the relatively small man, compared with his partner Chen Bo Yang, has a huge leap and a very powerful smash. He won’t set records for power, but the main strength of his smashes is not the power, but the angles which he hits them. He is able to find sharp angles which are difficult for the opponent to defend against. Also in his arsenal are slices and deceptive drop shots, which he uses them well by combining them with his potent smash. His lower stance also makes him very good in flat play, which is a rarity for Chinese men’s doubles. Most Chinese men’s doubles’ weakness is their flat play, where Indonesians and Malaysians get the most joy against them.

In the semi-final of the Badminton Asia Championship, Liu Yi finally announced himself as the new Rockstar of Chinese men’s doubles. Against Leo Rolly Carnando and Bagas Maulana from Indonesia, the match start poorly for Liu Yi and Chen Bo Yang. Carnando and Maulana exploited Chen Bo Yang’s lack of mobility by hitting smashes at him, then switching the pace and hitting drop shots against him. They clearly got the message which has been spreading amongst men’s doubles players: don’t hit the shuttle to Liu Yi. They kept attacking Chen Bo Yang, and their strategy was working. Liu Yi and Chen Bo Yang lost the first match 13-21.

The strategy of attacking only 1 person in doubles is a rather school boy tactic. I used this plenty in my playing days. Usually in junior tournaments, we would have 1 person who is much weaker than the other. That weaker person would have a bullseye painted on him. But, at the international level, this was so obvious in this match. Usually, at this level, players attack one person when the person is dazed and is going through a tough spell. But, to see this drop the start where the Indonesians just immediately attacked Chen Bo Yang, it speaks volumes about Liu Yi’s growing reputation.

It was amazing to see Liu Yi stepping in to help cover for his partner who was under tremendous pressure. Playing the tournament in China is adding to the pressure, not helping them perform better. This was largely due to Wang Chan and Liang Wei Keng losing to Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik in the other men’s doubles semi final. Not having a Chinese doubles pair on home soil was going to be a disaster. So, seeing Liu Yi step up to turn things around was interesting. But how he did it was amazing.

The striken Chen Bo Yang was at the point where he was so dazed he could not hit any shot right. When defending, Liu Yi starting covering 3 quarters of the court. Chen Bo Yang would stay in one corner, and Liu Yi would be in his side of the court, past the middle line. And, it was more surprising was that when the Indonesians saw the open space and attacked it, Liu Yi would dive to the open side and could still return the attacks. Liu Yi kept doing that to help Chen Bo Yang, and during every break, I could see him urging Chen Bo Yang. Chen Bo Yang would have a pained look on his face as they spoke before the next rally.

The second match was a close one, and several times, the Indonesian took the lead from their tactic of attacking Chen Bo Yang. The Chinese coach had an extremely worried look on his face for most of the second game. It was roughly after the score of 16 all, when Liu Yi and Chen Bo Yang seem to finally come alive. And the tactical change which sparked that was when Chen Bo Yang rushing forward like in mixed doubles, and letting Liu Yi run free.

Chen Bo Yang’s movement to the front of the court helped. His height made it a barrier for the Indonesians, and it meant they would only launch their attack from the side of the court Chen Bo Yang was not covering. This narrows the angles they could attack the Chinese pair, and that freed up Liu Yi to dominate. Liu Yi launched attacks whenever he had the chance, and the angles his attacks were causing huge problems for the Indonesians. And Chen Bo Yang seemed to have regained his composure after getting a good run of points. Both him and Liu Yi started to play their usual game. They won the 2nd game 21 – 18.

The 3rd game saw more of the same, when Chen Bo Yang rushed forward whenever he had the chance. The Indonesians attacks on Chen Bo Yang were still working, despite Liu Yi’s efforts to cover Chen Bo Yang. And after some points lost during the early stages of the game, Chen Bo Yang reverted to rushing forward at any opportunity. He managed to limit the Indonesian’s angles for attack, and the Liu Yi could do his magic. And, they managed to dominate using this approach and won the game 21-12.

It was a marvellous match to watch. I had not seen the Chinese spectators so excited when watching a match. This match has such wonderful emotions, it was worthy of being the final. Initially, there was a lot of anguish in the Chinese fans as the Indonesians dominated with their strategy. The bright spot in that opening match was that whenever Liu Yi has a clear opportunity to attack, he would be able to do some magic. And when the Indonesians tried attacking Liu Yi, they looked like their were playing against a wall. That grit, determination not to lose every single point, inspired the Chinese crowd.

When Liu Yi and Chen Bo Yang were fighting for each and every point in the 2nd game, the crowd were pulled into the intensity of the match they were seeing. Liu Yi’s attitude to chase everything down, even what looked to be lost causes, and still keep it alive, carried the crowd. With every tough rally where it took a heck of a lot of effort from the Indonesians to break Liu Yi and Chen Bo Yang down, the crowd roared in approval. Over time, the crowd’s energy fed itself, and the stadium was roaring along with Liu Yi and Chen Bo Yang. The louder the roars got, the more it affected the Indonesians. The more that brought Chen Bo Yang out of his shell.

The truth is, Liu Yi was the one who lifted the crowds tonight. It was him who lifted his partner out of his stupor. His attitude to get everything back dragged everyone along. Even me and Fred were jumping up and down as we watched this match. We were cheering the Great Wall on! Go, Liu Yi! Go!

For one player to have this effect on the entire stadium, his partner and spectators like me, that is amazing to the point where it is beyond words.

Take a bow, Liu Yi. A rockstar is born.

That’s it for this entry.

Until the next entry, eat well, get plenty of rest and keep the badminton going!