Lin Qumu stood on the downwind side of the court. Lin Qumu lost the coin toss, so Lin Yusheng unhesitatingly chose the upwind side.
Badminton courts are usually divided into upwind and downwind sides due to air conditioning and court wind direction. For a player who excels at drops and clears, it's best to start on the upwind side, as it doesn't require too much power to control the opponent's baseline. When the first game is over and sides are exchanged, physical energy decreases, and power also changes accordingly, causing the shots to vary in power. This is because the control over muscles is not very precise due to reduced physical energy. At this point, the downwind side comes into play: it helps the player better control the opponent's baseline and is less likely to hit out.
Since Lin Yusheng chose the court, Lin Qumu got the right to serve.
"Begin." Coach Sun Jun, sitting as the Lady Referee, announced the start of the match. Zheng Siwei helped by sitting in the service judge's position, acting as the service judge.
Lin Qumu served to zone one, the front half of the double service court. Lin Yusheng returned a backhand shot to the net, with good quality, very close to the net. Lin Qumu stepped forward and got to the high point with a backhand. Lin Yusheng thought, "Not good," and was about to step forward to take the net.
However, Lin Qumu suddenly lowered his racket, then forcefully hit the shuttlecock directly to Lin Yusheng's backhand side. Lin Yusheng had just intended to step forward to the net but didn't expect Lin Qumu to suddenly clear to his backcourt, and it was a backhand shot. He had no choice but to turn, make a second start, and hit a backhand clear.
For a player, the backhand is absolutely weaker than the forehand. Even for Taufik Hidayat, the God of Backhand, and Chen Long, the King of Backhand, if they could choose, they would definitely choose the forehand, as there are many more techniques that can be hit with the forehand than with the backhand.
Just like this shot, Lin Yusheng's speed was fast enough, but the quality of this backhand clear was not high enough, not close enough to the sideline, and the arc was neither too high nor too low, nor close enough to the baseline. Lin Qumu seized the opportunity, judged the landing spot, and leaped high, stretching his body like a fully drawn bow.
"Bang--"
The Badminton shuttlecock flew straight like a bullet from a gun. Lin Yusheng didn't expect Lin Qumu to choose to smash his return shot. He immediately twisted his body and barely managed to receive this almost guaranteed point-winning smash. But it was too high, and the return quality was too poor. For Lin Qumu, this was a perfect opportunity to smash and follow up at the net.
So Lin Qumu stepped forward to the net, then leaped high and heavily smashed the shuttlecock into Lin Yusheng's court.
The impact was so great that even Zheng Siwei shrunk his neck. How terrifying! He almost vertically smashed the shuttlecock down.
Coach Sun Jun flipped the scoreboard, recording one point for Lin Qumu's side, and at the same time loudly declared: "One-zero!"
Lin Yusheng scooped up the shuttlecock, believing that its ruffled feathers affected its flight path and made it unsuitable for continued play. He then gestured to Lin Qumu and Coach Sun Jun, requesting a change of shuttlecock. Lin Qumu and Coach Sun Jun agreed to change the shuttlecock.
(From now on, 'Mu' refers to Lin Qumu, and 'Yu' refers to Lin Yusheng)
Mu continued to serve, this time to zone six, the backcourt of the single service court. Yu immediately pushed back, a standard sudden straight attack. Mu directly dived to receive the shuttlecock, but this shot was of very high quality, smashing directly onto the sideline, earning a point.
Lin Qumu was careless with this shuttlecock, originally thinking of changing the rhythm for the second serve of the game, but Lin Yusheng judged correctly and scored directly with a straight smash.
The score on the court was one-all.
Service changed, Lin Yusheng to serve.
Yu served to the far corner of zone two, which is the angle between the service line and the singles sideline. This position is very dangerous, and high danger means high reward; it depends on whether Mu dares to let it go.
Clearly, Mu didn't dare, but this shot was awkward to receive, forcing Mu to turn sideways to receive the shuttlecock, and his footwork was also affected, with both feet standing side by side, almost bowing to Zheng Siwei, and casually receiving the shuttlecock.
Yu immediately came forward and quickly pushed to Mu's backhand. Mu's return quality was not high, and Yu easily seized the opportunity to push to the backcourt on Mu's backhand. Mu drew his racket back, then forcefully cleared. Yu originally thought Mu would choose to ease off on the clear, but Mu chose to add power to defend against the grab. Yu had no chance to get to the net and had to soften the shot to block at the net.
Mu quickly turned around. Seeing Yu soften the shot to block at the net, he quickly stepped forward to return a net shot, of extremely high quality, directly flipping over the net. Although Yu successfully got to the net, the quality of this shuttlecock was too high, forcing Yu to clear, but it didn't go over the net.
The score on the court was two-one.
Service changed, Mu's turn to serve.
Huang Yaqiong stood outside the court with Shi Yuqi, who had just finished his therapy. "Yuqi, what do you think?"
"I'm looking with my eyes, of course." Shi Yuqi made a joke, then said: "They haven't played much yet; it will take more shots to see something clearly."
Huang Yaqiong nodded in agreement.
Soon, the match reached seven-five, with Lin Qumu leading by two points. At this moment, Lin Yusheng was serving.
Yu served to zone six, which was a direct sneak to the backcourt. The effect was excellent; Mu, who was originally rushing to the net, was forced to lean back and hit the shuttlecock. However, unwilling to lift the shuttlecock high, he hit a flat shot while leaning back. Clearly, this put no pressure on Yu, who easily blocked at the net. Mu awkwardly received the shuttlecock and cleared it high.
Subsequently, Yu did not rush to smash down but transitioned to the middle of the net. Mu could not create a good angle, so he returned to the middle, close to the net.
There were two tactical approaches here. Lin Yusheng's return to the middle of the far net was originally intended to catch Lin Qumu's push-clear. A middle shot is difficult to angle well; any angle would be exploited, so a push-clear would be under immense pressure. Previously, Lin Yusheng had scored a point with this shot.
However, the quality of Lin Yusheng's return this time was not high, so Lin Qumu played his tactic: far net to close net. This is a very difficult technical movement because the hitting point is some distance from the net, usually in the area near the service line, and to go from far net to close net requires extremely delicate control of power. Players who can achieve this are all net masters, such as Shi Yuqi, Anthony Sinisuka Ginting, Lin Dan, Lee Chong Wei, and so on.
As expected, Mu's direct far-net-to-close-net shot was of very high quality, very close to the net. Yu couldn't get to the high point and had no choice but to clear the shuttlecock high, with a high arc, and the landing point was in Mu's single service court, mid-court!
Yu's internal alarm bells rang, and he immediately braced himself, ready to receive a smash. Mu turned sideways, with his left foot as the pivot, his right foot quickly retreating a significant distance, and his left foot simultaneously drawing back. Mu leaped high, directly smashing a diagonal shot from the Overhead Kill area (which is the backhand area), targeting Yu's backhand area.
The speed was so fast that Yu could only dive to receive the shuttlecock, blocking a straight shot to the far net. Mu easily followed up at the net, making a cross-court drop shot!
Shi Yuqi was very envious. Before his injury, his follow-through was not slow at all; in fact, there were very few players who could challenge Shi Yuqi's follow-through at that time. However, the Indonesia of 2019 shattered his youthful dream, leaving him with a weakness that was always easily targeted.
However, through his unremitting efforts and good maintenance, follow-through was no longer a major problem, but he would still subconsciously fear diagonal net follow-ups.
Yu barely managed to clear the shuttlecock, looking a bit disheveled on court. The landing point of the shuttlecock was near the middle of the court. Mu retreated with shuffle steps, hitting a forehand straight attack, smashing directly towards Yu's backhand sideline. Yu couldn't keep up with Mu's rhythm and could only watch the shuttlecock land inside the sideline, with Mu scoring a point with the smash.
The score was eight-five.
Lin Yusheng signaled for a change of shuttlecock, and Lin Qumu agreed.
Mu served a fast, flat shot, but Zheng Siwei raised his right hand, then placed it horizontally across his chest.
Service fault, shuttlecock served too high. Service changed, Yu scored.
BWF (Badminton World Federation, a pun on the Chinese pronunciation) has regulations for players' serves: the hitting point when serving must not be higher than 1.15 meters, otherwise, it's ruled a fault, the opponent scores, and service is exchanged. To help the service judge clearly see the hitting point, there is a special instrument to assist the service judge. Two acrylic boards, each with a black line in the middle; when they align, it's the standard 1.15-meter height. When serving, the judge carefully checks if the hitting point is above the black line at the moment of impact; if it is, it's ruled a fault.
Lin Qumu made a serving motion, asking Zheng Siwei if he really served too high. Zheng Siwei nodded, his eyes firm. Lin Qumu had no choice but to hit the shuttlecock back, which Lin Yusheng had returned when Zheng Siwei raised his hand to signal.
The score was six-eight (whoever scores, their score is listed first).
Yu served, suddenly to zone five, which was a sneak to the backcourt. This shot had an unexpected effect; Mu didn't expect it at all. He anticipated Yu would serve a net shot, so his center of gravity was basically pressed forward. He didn't expect Yu to sneak a serve to the backcourt. There was nothing he could do; Mu was forced to make a second start and hit the shuttlecock while leaning back. The quality of this clear was not high. Yu seized the opportunity, quickly judged the landing spot, then raised his racket, leaped high, and directly smashed to Mu's backhand sideline.
If Brother Long Chen Long or Coach Li Mao were here, they would realize that the smash Lin Yusheng chose was an Overhead Kill!
Overhead Kill doesn't mean the smash has a tyrannical aura, but rather it's a type of smash. Unlike the traditional whip-like power generation, Overhead Kill is more like a squeezing power generation. In other words, traditional smashes are powerful, but they have a long backswing and preparation time. If the opponent is prepared, unless there's enough certainty, a traditional smash will be defended by the opponent. Overhead Kill is different; the player prepares the backswing at the moment of turning, so compared to a traditional smash, the Overhead Kill backswing is higher. Furthermore, the power generation of Overhead Kill is more like squeezing power out, relying more on the explosive power of the forearm and wrist, and the follow-through after the smash is faster than a traditional smash, allowing for better continuity to the next shot.
Brother Long in 2018 and 2019 relied on his Overhead Kill to appear as if his skills were still sharp, even defeating Viktor Axelsen at the time, and reaching the final at the Olympics, although he unfortunately lost to Viktor Axelsen.
Comparing landing points, traditional smashes land deeper, meaning closer to the baseline, while Overhead Kill lands closer to the mid-court, basically consistent with the landing point of a flick smash. Furthermore, Overhead Kill has a shorter preparation time, making it more advantageous for sudden attacks.
Mu dived to save the shuttlecock, blocking a net shot. Yu easily got to the net, lightly flicking a cross-court shot. This time Mu couldn't keep up and could only watch the shuttlecock land.
The score was seven-eight.
Coach Sun Jun not only presided over the match but also recorded the performance of the two young players on the court. His notebook was full of issues Coach Sun Jun had observed.
The other National Badminton Team players watched with great interest. Even Liang Wang, who was practicing serves, was very curious, constantly craning his neck to try and see, but Coach Chen Qiqiu gave each of them a rap on the head: "Practice your serves well before you watch! Continue!"
The score had just pulled ahead by three points, but unexpectedly, a service error coupled with a cross-court flick quickly allowed the opponent to catch up.
Yu served to zone two, near the middle. Mu stepped forward with his right foot, while also feigning a clear. Yu fell for it, immediately feigning a back-pedal and smash towards his Overhead Kill area. But Mu suddenly changed, twisting his wrist, and the racket face suddenly flipped. The shuttlecock didn't fly upward but suddenly and strangely changed into a net shot, and a very high-quality net shot at that!
Yu was greatly alarmed and quickly tried to move, but found his feet subconsciously retreated half a step. As he retreated, the shuttlecock had already crossed the net and was sinking.
A classic scene, receiving serve with a fake movement leading to a freeze!
This shuttlecock immediately reminded everyone present of that brilliant shot—in the 2019 Sudirman Cup final, the third men's singles match, Shi Yuqi against Kento Momota of Japan, in the deciding game when Shi Yuqi was leading 19:11, the shuttlecock he received!
The same movement, the same position, the same trajectory, the same freeze, and both were crucial points for themselves. At that time, Shi Yuqi won that point to get nine championship points. If Lin Qumu wins this point, he will get nine points, which will put immense pressure on Lin Yusheng.
The score was nine-seven.
Service changed, Mu to serve, serving a net shot. Yu immediately pushed a clear to Mu's forehand baseline, with good quality. Mu transitioned to the net, and Yu continued to push a clear to Mu's forehand baseline. Mu hit a straight flat clear, and Yu chose a cross-court drive. Mu turned and hit a backhand straight clear. Yu quickly shuffled to his forehand baseline, jumped to take the shuttlecock at a high point, then gathered power, ready to smash.
Mu lowered his center of gravity, preparing to receive the smash. But Yu flicked his wrist, executing a soft-touch slice drop shot down the line. Mu hurriedly raised his center of gravity, rushed to the net, and awkwardly cleared the shuttlecock. Yu jumped in place, hitting a powerful smash. Even though Mu dived to save the shuttlecock, he could only watch it land beside him, just on the sideline, scoring a point.
The score was eight-nine.
Lin Yusheng clenched his fist and cheered, very excited. In fact, the two of them had faced each other several times in both domestic and international youth competitions, and generally, Lin Qumu always had the last laugh. Of course, when they met, it was usually in the finals.
Lin Yusheng is good at smashing, with good explosiveness and power, and his smashes are both heavy and fast. But Lin Qumu can always defend against his smashes, and with high quality. However, there are also times when Lin Qumu cannot defend against his smashes.
Lin Qumu was not annoyed. He picked up the battered Badminton shuttlecock, signaled for a change, and Coach Sun Jun and Lin Yusheng agreed.
The current score is crucial for both sides. The feeling conveyed by a ten-eight score versus a nine-all score is completely different. It seems that even playing to just eleven points offers super high viewing pleasure and excitement.
Everyone looked on with anticipation, wondering who would gain the upper hand next.