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At the Malaysia Masters, Lee Fong
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displayed complete dominance over his
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opponents, winning the title without
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dropping a single set. In this video, we
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want to take a deeper dive in his play
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style and cover some of his tactics that
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allow him to win confidently. We also
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want to briefly take a look at how Liong
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lost against Lin Chuni in the Singapore
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Open and analyze some disadvantages to
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his play style as well. stated the one.
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If you've watched Lie Shiong play
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before, you would have noticed that he
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has exceptional attacking play.
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That's big. I'm not stuck. However, his
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style is actually more of a control
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style where he bides his time and waits
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for the right opportunity to change the
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Well, his play style hasn't changed very
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much. For example, if we compare some
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rallies back in his junior years with
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some rallies nowadays,
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He still aims to control his opponent's
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back court by taking the net early and
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playing high quality pushes and lifts.
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He then capitalizes on loose shots from
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their late forehand and late
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backhand, generally attacking more on
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Pay attention to how Lieafung
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capitalizes on his opponent's late
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clears in the back court.
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the advantage of being able to really
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open up now that he's got a
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buffer and that's what I mean. The major
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difference between the two is that he is
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much more patient in his play.
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Now this patience comes from higher
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quality lifts and pushes played in the
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front court. That is a big factor in
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developing patience because it makes the
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game much slower. By heavily slowing
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down the pace, Lysong is able to change
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the pace of the game from slow to fast
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much easier. As a result,
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Well, one thing I love about both these
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players is that they really are willing
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to go toe-to-toe. They're just
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not fearful of each other in any way.
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That's leading to these great rallies.
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And when Lieafong plays patiently, he
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can use his length and reach to the
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fullest extent, meaning he gets less
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tired while his opponent expends more
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energy trying to attack. By saving this
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energy, Lee Fong has more mental clarity
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because he is simply less tired. Take
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this rally for example. Look at how many
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times Lee blocks towards the middle. He
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blocks to the middle on almost all of
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The reason for this is to prevent shot
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combos from Jason and set up attacking
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opportunities for himself as well. This
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is the beauty in Lysong's play because
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most of his points come from his ability
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to capitalize on his opponent's careless
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And that's in this rally. Pay attention
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to when Liong changes pace.
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Let's just notice how Liu Fung blocks
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middle and then prepares his feet
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position in anticipation for his around
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the head. The reason why he does this is
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because the push to his around the head
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is the most comfortable and probable
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shot for his opponent.
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Depending on where Leeong's block to the
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middle is, he can control to an extent
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what grip his opponent will use. And if
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his opponent uses the backhand, then the
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shot that feels the most comfortable is
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the one that pushes Lee Fangs around the
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head. The reason for this is because on
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the backhand grip, the racket naturally
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faces cross. So to change it to a
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straight, the player must change the
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racket face angle first. This is
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difficult to keep track of in a
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high-paced game like badminton,
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especially at the pro level, which is
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ultimately why Lishi Fang changes the
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positioning of his feet to anticipate
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his around the head since day
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one. Literally, nobody has beaten him.
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earlier in the video we mentioned how
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Leafon controls his opponent's backcourt
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with high quality lifts and by taking
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the net early. By doing this he controls
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the net. But you might ask how is he
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controlling the net if he isn't playing
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any shots to the net. And our answer is
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that controlling the net doesn't
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necessarily mean you have to play a
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better net game than your opponent. It
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can also mean that you are preventing
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your opponent from playing the net at
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all. And that is Lieafing's way of
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Oh, great shot from Xi Fang. And that
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sets him up nice. Look at these rallies
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for example. And look at the
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opportunities Lee had to net but opted
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to push instead. In the end, it went
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to Ramadan. Locked up.
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So you can start thinking about your
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But if you're dicing with extra points,
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Well, one thing I love about both these
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players is that they really are willing
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to go toe-to-toe. They're just
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not fearful of each other in any
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way. And because Leysa Fing pushes so
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often, his opponents become conditioned
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to move towards the back court. So when
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he actually does play a net shot, it
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catches his opponents off
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guard. So that men's singles title
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currently vacant here at the Malaysia
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Masters. What a shot.
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Lieong lost to Lynchi in the second
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round at the Singapore Open because
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Lynn's style does very well against a
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controlling style like Lee. And this is
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evident in their head-to-head as well,
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because after their encounter at
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Singapore, Lynn now leads 4-1 against
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the higher ranked athlete. The reason
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why Lynn does so well is because Lee's
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lifts and pushes aren't exactly the
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fastest, and they were giving Lynn
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enough time to get two feet behind the
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shuttle and attack. This is one of Lin
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Chuni's greatest strengths. His two-foot
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jump smash is extremely hard to defend,
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even if the lift is at the baseline.
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This makes it extremely difficult for
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Liifung to play his style. On top of
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that, one of Liifung's favorite shots is
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his around the head cross smash, and it
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works very well against right-handers,
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as it targets their backhand defense.
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However, against left-handers, it is
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playing right into their forehand
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corner, which is much easier to defend
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and often ends up with Lee running the
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just needed the one. And when you can't
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play your style, it is very easy to give
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up or become panicked and force shots
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that aren't the greatest shots to play,
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which we can see Lishiong do in this
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Better lift that from Lee.
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Do you think Lee Fun has what it takes
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to become the next world champion or
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should he start a career in boxing
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instead? Let us know in the comments
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below if you like this video. Don't
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forget to like, comment, and subscribe.
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And as always, thank you for watching.
