Women’s singles in badminton is crammed with talent, we watch a game blessed with a golden generation of athletes from around the world. But there is one player recently who is always catching the eye and I think she may be on the brink of dominating the game for a while to come: Chen Yu Fei.

Since her success at the 2018 Fuzhou Chinese Open Chen has been on an upward trajectory. 2019 has been an amazing year for her: so far she has won the All England Open, the Swiss Open and the Australian Open. These finals saw her beat opponents over two straight games.

Video courtesy of Badminton England

I watched her play in the final at the All England Open this year and went to the game fully expecting Tai Tzu Ying to play at her imperious best and be crowned Queen of the court. Things turned out a lot differently to that…

Photo credit: Hafiz Johari/Shutterstock.com

Shivani Naik from the Indian Express says that Chen neutralised Tai in that match and I think that analysis is spot on. We all watch Tai and expect her to conquer opponents through a mix of fabulous deception and Zen-like calm. Chen refused to stand admiringly on the other side of the net and rejected the opportunity to be beaten. Tai was made to run around and there were too many times when she was scrambling for the shuttle. She just could not dominate in her usual way.

Her performances in the Sudirman Cup this year were excellent. The highlights video below illustrates her athletic, full-on approach.

Both players finish the match flat out on the court. Video courtesy BWF

Chen looks very fit – she is simultaneously springy and unyielding – and there is a grit to her make up. She is obstinate, she hustles, she doesn’t give up, she declines defeat. Every shot her opponent tries is retrieved. Not just that, she defends relentlessly and then switches to attack, pushing back on her rival. She doesn’t make many mistakes, and although it sounds obvious, it is a huge advantage in any match. This must be exhausting to play against.

I think she is great at the net. Although not the tallest at 171cm she has a great reach and lunges well to get to the shuttle. Unlike P V Sindhu she doesn’t have particularly steep smashes in her armour, nor does she have a long-legged stride to cover the court. What she does have is fast reactions and confidence in her ability so she often seems to bulldoze to victory.

So, what does the future hold for the kid who took up badminton because she was naughty? Well, Chen has a formidable team behind her and arguably the best coaching resources in the world are in China; after she won at the All England this year she was quick to acknowledge the people whose know-how helped her. She has mentioned before that her ambition is to “see the Chinese flag rising” so I’m certain that she is eyeing Olympic gold at Tokyo 2020 as well as the top titles on the BWF tour. There’s lots of competition in the women’s game these days so it won’t be easy but who is going to beat her?

If you enjoyed reading this follow the link to my article about Tai Tzu Ying, Chen Yu Fei’s main rival for the World Number 1 spot https://womensbadminton.co.uk/2019/07/01/tai-tzu-ying-goddess-or-mortal/

You may also like to find out about An Se Young – the Korean has burst onto the badminton scene recently https://womensbadminton.co.uk/2019/07/08/an-se-young-koreas-sensational-17-year-old/

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