Delhi Badminton World Championships gets its first mad-shot reel moment

Canadian Johnna Rymes gets in a behind-the-back winner in her women's doubles match but on a morning of mad-shot making

2 min readUpdated: Aug 17, 2026 04:33 PM IST

Badminton World Champions at the IG Stadium in Delhi. (Reuters Photo)

Lakshya Sen’s first match is still 24 hours away, but the behind-the-back wristy flick has made its first appearance at Delhi’s Badminton World Championships. A goodly crowd watched Canadian women’s doubles shuttler Johnna Rymes pull off an eye-popping behind the back wrist snapping flick that landed on the opponent’s court much to the glee of her partner Eyota Kwan.

The Canadians who met at a Edmonton club, following their respective older brothers into the sport, ended up getting wiped 21-15, 10-21, 21-6 in the Round 1 match against Vietnamese Thi Dieu Ly Tham and Pham Thi Khahn. But Rymes found a reason to garner applause in the 4th match on Court 4, when she bobbed and torqued and sent an agile return that had enough snap in it to surprisingly land on the opposite court for a winner.

“Sometimes you swing at anything and it comes off. I turned around and frankly didn’t expect it to go far,” Rymes said later. The behind-the-back is rarely ever trained for dedicatedly. “I’ll call it the ‘Due luck’ or ‘shank it back’ shot,” she added.

Rymes comes from Devon, a hyper planned oil exploration town and watched her father play the sport, while Kwan hails from Edmonton-proper. The sport has seen an explosion after the success of Victor Lai, who medalled at the last World’s and won a Super 1000 recently.

“The sport is growing a lot because of Victor. “We played a local tournament where even the umpires were distracted by watching his semifinals at Indonesia on their devices,” Rymes recalls with a laugh.

The eye-popping stroke, made famous in India when Sen unleashed it at the Olympics non chalantly, needs incredible reflexes and a rubbery strong wrist.

It’s gotten more common in badminton, though not to the extent of being seen as ordinary. It still gets a whoop and gasp when it gets a return back. Playing MR Arjun and Hariharan Amsakarunan, Irishmen Guildea-Reynolds also got a couple of audacious returns from folded arms, though they ended up spraying the final smash.

Shivani Naik

Shivani Naik is a senior sports journalist and Assistant Editor at The Indian Express. She is widely considered one of the leading voices in Indian Olympic sports journalism, particularly known for her deep expertise in badminton, wrestling, and basketball. Professional Profile Role: Assistant Editor and Columnist at The Indian Express. Specialization: While she covers a variety of sports, she is the primary authority on badminton for the publication. She also writes extensively about tennis, track and field, wrestling, and gymnastics. Writing Style: Her work is characterized by "technical storytelling"—breaking down the biomechanics, tactics, and psychological grit of athletes. She often provides "long reads" that explore the personal journeys of athletes beyond the podium. Key Topics & Recent Coverage (Late 2025) Shivani Naik’s recent articles (as of December 2025) focus on the evolving landscape of Indian sports as athletes prepare for the 2026 Asian Games and beyond: Indian Badminton's "Hulks": She has recently written about a new generation of Indian shuttlers characterized by power and physicality, such as Ayush Shetty and Sathish Karunakaran, marking a shift from the traditionally finesse-based Indian style. PV Sindhu’s Resurgence: A significant portion of her late-2025 work tracks PV Sindhu’s tactical shifts under new coaching, focusing on her "sparkle" and technical tweaks to break out of career slumps. The "Group of Death": In December 2025, she provided detailed tactical previews for Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty’s campaign in the BWF World Tour Finals. Tactical Deep Dives: She frequently explores technical trends, such as the rise of "backhand deception" in modern badminton and the importance of court drift management in international arenas. Legacy and History: She often revisits the careers of legends like Saina Nehwal and Syed Modi, providing historical context to current Indian successes. Notable Recent Articles BWF World Tour Finals: Satwik-Chirag have it all to do to get through proverbial Group of Death. (Dec 2025) The age of Hulks in Indian badminton is here. (Dec 2025) Treadmill, Yoganidra and building endurance: The themes that defined the resurgence of Gayatri and Treesa. (Dec 2025) Ayush Shetty beats Kodai Naraoka: Will 20-year-old be the headline act in 2026? (Nov 2025) Modern Cinderella tale – featuring An Se-young and a shoe that fits snugly. (Nov 2025) Other Sports Interests Beyond the court, Shivani is a passionate follower of South African cricket, sometimes writing emotional columns about her irrational support for the Proteas, which started because of love for Graeme Smith's dour and doughty Test playing style despite being a left-hander, and sustained over curiosity over their heartbreaking habit of losing ICC knockouts. You can follow her detailed analysis and columns on her official Indian Express profile page. ... Read More

Tags:
BWF World Championships

Loading Recommendations...

Sep 08: Latest News

Live Blog