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At the recent 2025 Yonex German Open, Denmark's Viktor Axelsen took on Singapore's Loh Kean Yew in the men's singles finals. Today, we're going to analyze this badminton match and focus specifically on how Loh Kean Yew played. He has made a big change in his badminton strategy that we really wanted to look at in tandem with other things like badminton technique and mental fortitude. Some have speculated that these changes come as a result of former coach, Kelvin Ho, taking on a new role as singles head coach for Singapore's national badminton training squad instead of coaching Loh. Could these changes make Loh Kean Yew a world champion again?
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Show More Show Less View Video Transcript
0:00
just a couple of days ago the 2025 Yonex
0:03
German open concluded with Victor axelon
0:05
getting his second title of the year
0:07
over Singapore's low Keen U and we
0:10
wanted to make a video on it though
0:11
axelon was the ultimate winner we
0:13
actually want to focus on low Keen U
0:16
throughout the tournament Lowe's game
0:18
had looked different compared to his
0:19
previous play and we believe he has made
0:21
significant improvements in the right
0:23
direction let's discuss some of those
0:24
improvements first clear the net
0:30
[Applause]
0:34
there are three things that really stood
0:36
out to us both good and bad from low
0:39
Keen Yu in his match against axelon at
0:41
the 2025 German open first Lo's style
0:45
has changed to become significantly more
0:47
efficient where he's much smarter about
0:49
when to use full power to attack in the
0:51
back court in this match low often
0:53
played a variety of efficient shots in
0:55
the back court that expended little
0:57
energy these shots helped him focus more
0:59
on the followup instead where he aimed
1:01
to take the net early and create better
1:03
attacking opportunities second Lowe's
1:06
technique must be analyzed For Better or
1:08
Worse Lowe's change in style has
1:11
increased the variety of shots he plays
1:13
and although some of his technique has
1:15
been great there are other shots that
1:17
must be improved to make Low's style
1:19
change more effective third low needs to
1:22
continue working on his patience and
1:24
focus with this style there are
1:26
countless times in the match where low
1:28
lost focus and made easy mistakes Stakes
1:30
that allowed axelon to win let's start
1:33
with how low has played more efficiently
1:34
at the German
1:37
open since Lowe's Championship win in
1:40
2021 he has struggled to find a play
1:42
style that works very well for him his
1:45
2021 World Championship win reminded us
1:48
of pre-2010 lindan but it seems that low
1:51
found that playing at those speeds to be
1:53
unsustainable and looked toward
1:55
strategies that aren't as physically
1:56
exhausting his adaptation to play more
1:58
defensively however
2:00
were not great as simply lifting up high
2:02
and surviving your opponent's attack
2:04
will make it more difficult to win
2:06
especially against players with strong
2:08
attacks such as axelon at the 2025
2:10
German open it seems that low has found
2:13
the middle ground and an evolution of
2:15
his game that allows him to maintain his
2:17
attack while using energy more
2:19
conservatively what we loved from lokin
2:21
Yu in his match against axelon at the
2:23
German open was an increased focus on
2:25
taking the net early and gaining control
2:27
in the front Court in combination with
2:29
having more selective timings of using
2:31
jump smashes instead of trying to win
2:33
through raw power and speed by jumping
2:35
and smashing every shot Lowe's play at
2:37
the German open was much more focused on
2:39
playing shots that built up the rally
2:42
and finding better opportunities to
2:43
attack let's take a look at a few
2:46
examples but there might be a few
2:48
warning signs flashing now in Low's
2:51
head car for to that axelon get away
2:55
from him on the scoreboard he's a good
2:57
front runner
3:11
yeah we play wonderful spring and
3:15
fantastic
3:22
technique F A willon again you'll notice
3:25
that instead of jump smashing all the
3:27
time low makes use of slices drops and
3:30
half smashes a lot more these shots
3:33
require less full body commitment and
3:35
often lets you recover much easier and
3:37
faster which is key in Lowe's strategy
3:40
instead of winning the point off the
3:41
smash the idea is to use a slower but
3:44
steeper half Smasher slice to put your
3:46
opponent out of position and then
3:48
following up quickly and winning the
3:50
point at the
3:51
net you can really see this in Lowe's
3:54
footwork pay attention to how his back
3:56
court movements have become more light
3:58
and relaxed and how low changes speed
4:01
when the shuttle is returned to the net
4:03
now this isn't saying that low has
4:04
stopped jump smashing it's just that the
4:07
timing of his attack is much better now
4:09
where full smashes are coming when the
4:11
opponent is not in
4:13
position fantastic get from axelon and
4:16
again but he couldn't do anything with
4:20
that given how closely strategy and
4:23
technique are linked together we must
4:25
discuss Lowe's technical skills when
4:27
discussing a play style adjustment there
4:29
are both positive and negative points
4:30
from Lowe's technical skills in
4:32
combination with his strategy that we
4:33
can all learn from we can start with the
4:35
more positive note and that's Lowe's
4:36
pushes the first thing to pay attention
4:38
to is the hold that low uses in Low's
4:42
case this hold is particularly effective
4:43
because he's taking the net so early and
4:45
coming into the shot at very fast speeds
4:47
when you consider that axelon has to
4:50
respect low playing the next shot
4:52
immediately these holds often disrupt
4:54
axelson's split step timings and often
4:57
forces him to switch Direction this is
4:59
extra effective on a player who is as
5:01
tall as axelon and have more difficulty
5:04
changing speeds and Direction due to the
5:06
extra mass from their
5:10
height second you should pay attention
5:13
to the angle and speed of Low's pushes
5:16
pushes must be played at a speed and
5:18
angle that gives your opponent limited
5:20
options pay attention to axelson's
5:22
positioning in response to Lowe's pushes
5:24
and consider what options he has
5:43
what you'll notice is that it's often
5:44
very difficult for axelon to attack and
5:47
even when he does the shot that is
5:49
returned is often coming back flatter
5:51
and more predictably which allows low to
5:54
proactively move axelon around this is
5:56
one of the big reasons Lowe's play at
5:58
the German open was more efficient ient
6:00
he isn't as reliant on forcing the
6:02
attack anymore as restricting axelson's
6:05
attack and moving him around has given
6:06
low better chances to win the rally that
6:09
said overuse of these holds and pushes
6:11
isn't good and they're not always the
6:13
right shot to play for low there are
6:15
many instances where going for a drive
6:17
right away instead of holding would be
6:19
better we typically notice this when
6:21
he's following up after playing a backt
6:23
shot where hitting the shot right away
6:25
puts more pressure on axelon by not
6:28
giving him time to recover this is not a
6:30
big deal though especially because we
6:31
see low do it later in the match it is
6:34
something that's extremely difficult to
6:36
recognize during the game as well
6:37
something that was more concerning
6:39
however was Low's around the head
6:41
straight drop and slice we firmly
6:43
believe that low would have won against
6:45
axelon if he had a stronger straight
6:46
slice from his around the head side with
6:49
emphasis on the first game there were
6:51
many situations where Low's around the
6:53
head straight drop was too slow and gave
6:55
control to axelon although the placement
6:57
theoretically was great the angle and
7:00
speed of Low's straight drops allowed
7:01
axelon to take the shuttle early and put
7:04
low Under
7:05
Pressure instead low needed to play a
7:08
faster steeper straight slice from those
7:11
positions more often or even go for a
7:14
half
7:15
smash it's okay if the shuttle lands
7:17
further down the court but you need to
7:20
put emphasis on steepness and speed
7:22
against tall players like axelon a slow
7:25
drop even with good placement can be
7:27
reached in pretty much one step by
7:28
axelon on the other hand a steep and
7:31
fast shot is generally more useful
7:33
because it forces axelon to lower his
7:34
body and exhaust more
7:39
energy Nong and 2021 Le Z ja had great
7:44
examples of how these slic were
7:45
effective if low were to sharpen up some
7:47
of his backcourt shots like an around
7:49
thead straight slice then his new style
7:52
adjustment would be much more deadly
8:03
speaking of sharpening low also needed
8:05
to sharpen his focus and improve his
8:07
patience there were countless times
8:09
where low Made Easy mistakes especially
8:11
in the second game that was a a little
8:13
bit of a ages here the second
8:16
game unforced errors aside however we
8:19
want to point out how low has a tendency
8:21
to give his opponents easy attacking
8:22
opportunities without making them work
8:24
for it playing a clear is not
8:26
necessarily bad but you need pay careful
8:28
attention to the timing and angle of
8:29
your shot a high clear is typically used
8:32
to give yourself time and reset the
8:33
rally while a punch clear can be used to
8:35
put pressure on your opponent low
8:37
however has been going for high clears
8:39
but never really at a timing where he
8:41
needs to play one and unfortunately at a
8:44
timing where axelon is often in position
8:46
and prepared to attack to beat axelon
8:49
low needed to continue playing downwards
8:51
and make axelon work extremely hard to
8:52
get attacking opportunities against
8:54
someone of axelson's caliber no strategy
8:57
will work 100% of the time all you need
9:00
however is for the strategy to work most
9:01
of the time Low's strategies were
9:03
working very well but losing focus and
9:05
becoming impatient ultimately lost him
9:07
the match the key with Lowe's more
9:09
controlled style is to understand that
9:11
you're often playing to capitalize on
9:13
your opponent's mistakes this requires
9:15
your discipline in maintaining your shot
9:17
quality and focus to last longer than
9:18
your opponents and unfortunately for low
9:21
axelson's mental discipline and physical
9:23
fortitude was much stronger on that day
9:37
overall however Lowe's performance at
9:39
the German open was great and we could
9:41
see a Resurgence in the player if he
9:44
continues to develop the play that he
9:45
showed in this tournament and for us as
9:47
viewers we can learn from both the good
9:49
and bad from Lowe's performance by
9:51
focusing on changing speed in the front
9:52
court and taking shots early we can
9:55
create better attacking opportunities in
9:57
the back court this style generally requ
9:59
buers having more variety in the back
10:01
court and being able to play Shots that
10:02
allow you to quickly recover and follow
10:04
up at the net we can also pay attention
10:06
to Lowe's pushes as an example of shots
10:09
we would want to play ourselves and
10:10
recognize how even if you have a good
10:12
strategy it is not complete unless you
10:14
have the focus and patience to see it
10:17
through oh it was in as always if you
10:21
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10:25
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10:29
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10:31
[Music]