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The recent India Open was interesting to
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say the least. It showcased some
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But besides that, in the men's singles
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draw at the quarterfinal stage, there
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were seven nationalities out of eight
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Out of these eight, there were some
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significant names including the bronze
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medalist of the world championship in
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Victor Lie, the recent world tour final
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champion, Christoff and even the Olympic
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silver medalist Kunlav Vidar.
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>> Nobody would have expected Lin Chuni to
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pull through this crowd to win the
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But here [snorts] we are and he played
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exceptionally as well.
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So, in this video, we want to analyze
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Lynchi's game and explain how he won the
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2026 India Open and some of the
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similarities he has with 2008 Linda.
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There's the saying, never bring a knife
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This is the epitome of Lin Chuni's game.
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Except for bringing a knife, Lin Chun Yi
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brought a cannon. So if the cannon
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represents Lin Chuni's strength, then
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>> If you haven't guessed from those clips,
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it's his smash. Having a weapon or a
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signature shot or just something that
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you're more confident in is a great way
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to ensure that you have a game plan or a
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way to score in general. In Lin Chuni's
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case, having an extremely powerful smash
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makes his game plan extremely simple.
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Take the net early to set up his back
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court. And you can see in these rallies,
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that is exactly what he did.
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He didn't need to play any fancy shots.
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And to be honest, he quite rarely played
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deceptions. Instead, his focus was all
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on taking the net early and to get
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opportunities to score from there.
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By taking the net early, Lin Chuni gives
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himself many more options.
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In one of our previous videos, we
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mentioned that Lin Chuni had fast pushes
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that were very sudden. One of the
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reasons it's so sudden is because of how
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early Lin Chuni takes it at the net. So
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the moment you combine his
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aggressiveness at the net and his
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ability to play fast pushes,
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all of a sudden there is a gap in the
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court. That's when the tight net plays
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If you're Lin Chuni's opponent and you
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see him early at the net, the immediate
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reaction is to cover the most dangerous
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shot, which is the net.
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However, Lin Chuni also has a very
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dangerous push that needs to be
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accounted for. That's why many of Lin
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Chuni's opponents are simply forced to
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give him the high lift. And if the
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opponents do choose to net back, Linuni
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is ready to kill because he is already
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So having a weapon or a signature shot
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or skill in badmitten [music] can give
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you a game plan, but it also makes it
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significantly harder for your opponents
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having this powerful and accurate smash
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puts pressure on his opponents to play
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perfect lifts that force him all the way
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to the back and make it more difficult
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Not only that, it also forces his
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opponents to maybe play a style that
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isn't that comfortable for them.
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Let's take Victor Lie against Lin Chuni
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as an example. Even though the overall
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match was extremely close, it was
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evident that Victor Lie made adjustments
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as the game went on. In the first game,
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you can see Victor tried to play his
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comfortable style at the start and
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simply rally with Lin Chuni.
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But every time Victor took the net late
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and decided to lift, he would get
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And by the third game, Victor was
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playing extremely fast, trying to take
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the net early to avoid lifting to Lin
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>> That's why having a weapon is so
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important in badminton
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because not only does it simplify your
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game plan, but it also makes it more
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difficult for your opponents to play
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as they might need to adjust their game
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However, Lynchon's games would not go so
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smoothly if it weren't for this one
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One essential skill that we didn't
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mention in the prior video on Lin Chuni
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Body control isn't just your ability to
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have a stable upper and lower body when
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retrieving difficult shots. But it's
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also about how fast you can return your
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body from the hitting position back to a
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Before we also mentioned this term
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showing which quite literally translates
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to keep it tight. However, our
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interpretation of this phrase in
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badminton is to quickly return to your
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And this ready position implies a state
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where your body and mind are 100% ready
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to react to the next shot your opponent
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plays. It does not mean that you have to
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always return back to the center of the
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In fact, returning directly back to the
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center of the court is almost never the
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ideal ready position to be in.
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This is because it often requires an
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extra one or two steps, which the higher
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level you play at becomes extremely
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difficult as the pace of the game
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which is why most pro players will stand
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closer on one side than the other
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depending on what shot they've hit. And
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this is shown by Lin Chongi.
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Many times he doesn't always return back
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to the center of the court because
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there's often no need to return there.
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Instead, he will simply recover his
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upper and lower body back to its ready
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position and prepare for the next shot.
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And Lynchuni is exceptional at this
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skill. That is often why even though the
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pace of the game is fast, Lin Chuni
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looks like he has so much time before
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hitting his next shot. His ability to
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recover his body from the hitting
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position back to a state ready to react
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to the next shot is phenomenal.
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This skill of Lynch is comparable to
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If we look at this sideby-side
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comparison, you can see how both Lin
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Chuni and Lindan recover their bodies
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extremely fast and therefore have so
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much time before playing their next
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Some other similarities between the two
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is obviously they're both left-handed
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attacking players and both of their
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smashes are extremely developed.
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>> One specific similarity to mention is
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how they intercept flat pushes to their
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This tends to be a problem for a lot of
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players because it's very demanding in
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terms of having the flexibility in the
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upper body to bend but also heavily
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demanding and having good swing
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mechanics and contact with the shuttle.
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But both Lenini and Lindan were [music]
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experts at playing a half smash from
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this spot and turning this
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disadvantageous spot into their chance
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>> In this video, we've covered the two
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points of Lini's game, having a weapon
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and his body control.
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To summarize briefly, having a weapon
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allows for two things. Number one, it
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gives you a simple yet solid game plan.
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this was to take the net early and set
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up his back court for his weapon, the
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Number two, it puts pressure on your
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opponents. We saw this in the game Lin
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Chani played against Victor Lie where
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Victor noticeably had a change in style
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after the first game interval from
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playing a rallying style to a faster
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>> So think about what you're confident in
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on the court and develop a game that
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allows you to play around it. The next
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point was Lin Chuni's body control.
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The main thing about Lin Chuni's body
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control is how fast he is able to
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recover his body back into a position
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ready to retrieve the next shot. This
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gives him more time for the next shot
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and is why it seems like he always has
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time to wait before his opponent has hit
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But keep in mind that returning to a
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ready position doesn't necessarily mean
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that you need to scramble back to the
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center of the court right away. In fact,
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this is often what [music] makes
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footwork scrambly and choppy in the
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first place. Instead, it means [music]
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to recover your body out of the hitting
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position into a state that is 100% ready
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to react to the next shot.
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So, if you often find yourself
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scrambling for the next shot or have
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fast [music] but choppy footwork, think
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If you had any thoughts about Lin Chani
9:30
or about any of the ideas in this video,
9:32
feel free to leave them in the comment
9:35
Also, make sure to comment on any next
9:37
[music] videos you would want to see.
9:39
We read almost all of your comments and
9:41
really appreciate the feedback you guys
9:44
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9:46
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