Shi Yuqi was in all sorts of trouble in the Thailand Open 2026 quarter final match against Koki Watanabe as Koki came back strongly in the second game. Koki was able defend easily against Shi Yuqi’s attacks and looks set to win the 3rd game. Then Shi Yuqi made a tactical change to his attack which took Koki by surprise and won the 3rd game. Let’s discuss.
In the first game, Shi Yuqi won it by dominating the net. Shi Yuqi was also on the better side of the court. Combining his net play and control, Koki struggled to defend and Shi Yuqi moved him all over the court.
In the second game, Koki was on the better side, and he began to play with more confidence. Shi Yuqi’s smashes were not working as well as he could not move Koki around as much as before.
Whenever Shi Yuqi attacks, Koki would hunker down and defend. And Koki was pretty successful. When Shi Yuqi did not manage to move him around and attacked, Koki would get the smashes back. Shi Yuqi could not get an easy point of Koki in game 2.
That solid defense created the platform for Koki to build on. He could now counter attack Shi Yuqi after an attack. That lack of penetration of his attacks also played on Shi Yuqi’s mind. Shi Yuqi was less willing to launch attacks as his attacks were being defended and countered by Koki. This allowed Koki to dominate the game by moving Shi Yuqi around then launching attacks of his own. Koki won game 2 comfortably.
The third game saw Shi Yuqi trying something different to neutralize Koki’s defense. It was very apparent that Koki has been working on his defense against Shi Yuqi. And due to that, he is successful in defending, then he is able to launch counter attacks against Shi Yuqi to win a point. Every smash which Shi Yuqi makes, Koki seems unfazed and untroubled by it. Shi Yuqi needed to something different to make his attacks work, otherwise, he will not be able to stop Koki.
Initially, Koki was still able to defend against Shi Yuqi’s smashes with ease. Shi Yuqi had to play the net game for force Koki into doing short lifts in order to get points with his smash. This allowed Shi Yuqi race to a 7 – 3 lead. Koki stuck to his game plan to defend and counter attack, and he managed to make the score 8 – 6.
That was when Shi Yuqi started to change the angle of his smash. Instead of using his usual sharp smashes which land close to the middle of the court, Shi Yuqi started targeting the 3rd quarter of the court. The power Shi Yuqi puts into the smashes remained the same, but the angle which they reach the other side of the court is now different. The shuttles were higher now and landed further to the back of the court.
This change forced Koki to turn to the back of the court when he defends. This meant Koki was not able to get the angles of the returns he did earlier. And, it appears that this is something which Koki is not comfortable doing at all. Suddenly, Shi Yuqi’s smash became effective again, and Koki could not play his counterattacking game anymore.
Koki now had to jump further back from the centre to get the smashes. And now his defense was not looking as solid as before. He could not return most of the smashes. His counter attacking game plan was in shambles.
The two of the switched sides when Shi Yuqi reached 11 points, and Shi Yuqi forgot to readjust his smashes after the change. The result was that Koki managed to defend his smashes and countered him.
Then Shi Yuqi readjusts his smashes and send them further back. That was successful again, and Koki found it difficult to defend against Shi Yuqi’s smashes once again.
Even though Shi Yuqi had found a way for his smash to work, it was still not an easy battle. Koki was still moving him all over the court and winning points whenever he could do that. Shi Yuqi mixed it up by adding slice drops into the rallies to slow down Koki. And when he had the chance, Shi Yuqi would send a smash further to the back of the court.
This kept Koki at bay in rallies. Because now Shi Yuqi is able to kill the rally with his smash, Koki was more reluctant to send lobs or lifts to the back of the court. That caused Koki’s rally game to be less effective when trying to move Shi Yuqi around. Koki tried to send his lifts higher and further back, and as a result, he made errors by sending the shuttle out at the back and lost.
Conclusion
Shi Yuqi came up with a simple solution to break Koki’s game. Instead of doing some wild and crazy shots like hitting the sidelines every time, he simply adjusted his smash to send it less steep and further to the back. And this change in angle threw Koki’s game plan into disarray and allowed Shi Yuqi to win.
Some times, the solution to the problem at hand does not have to be too complex. A simple one such as this one worked so well for Shi Yuqi.
That’s it for this entry.
Until the next entry, eat well, get plenty of rest and keep the badminton going!
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