There’s a football spirit animal in each of the badminton stars – the clutch mentality, the tempesting temperament, the quick calculating brain and the twinkling feet. Here’s what happens when the two universes collide:
Erling Haaland – Anders Antonsen Resemblance isn’t incidental. Both come from Viking stock. They don’t look like they’ll be scoring anytime soon – and suddenly Haaland has two goals and Antonsen is in the finals, and winner of 11 titles. The goofiness masks the intensity and grit.
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Jude Bellingham – Chirag Shetty Intense personalities overwhelm the talent beneath, which is legit and tenacious. Always looking to improve, always boggled by their own popularity and deeply immersed in working on that last decimal percentage. Harsh self assessors.
Harry Kane – Satwiksairaj Rankireddy Attacking instinct, sobered by defensive duties that both can’t escape. Reliable. Ability to hit high chords during immense pressure. Can spot spaces and straddle offense-defense transitions. Missed titles keep the hunger gnawing. Absolute gentleman. Minus snobbery.
Vozinha – Chou Tien Chen Universally respected. Ageing but agile. Big heart. Good heart. Overcame adversity. In CTC’s case, cancer. Consistent. Age-resistant.
Olmo – Oyarzabal – Aaron Chia – Soh Wooi Yik Prolific. Talented. Always in the hunt. Technical. Chiseled angles, not cheeky. See spaces where others wouldn’t. Reliable. Oyarzabal is 6/6 in finals. Chia-Soh were underrated before split. Not prone to errors.
Mbappe — Sindhu Big match temperament. Heartbreaking losses have only helped them get better. Just naturally suited. Built for badminton, like the Frenchman was born for football. Sophisticated.
Cristiano Ronaldo – Lakshya Sen Won plenty early. Never stop working hard. Fitness freaks. Not prone to crumbling easily. A sense of self. But limited by outer limits of physicality. Misunderstood. Body language – severely misinterpreted.
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Emi Martinez – Liang Weikeng Cheeky. Smiling. Upto tricks at all times. Brimming with brazenness. Neither looks attacking, both ooze offense, even when asked to defend.
Pedri – He Bingjiao Elegant. Imaginative. Badminton IQ. Flawless stroke making and technical finesse. Both don’t have the ability to annoy like Rodri or Fabian Ruiz or Chen Yufei or any other golden generation players of WS. But can dictate tempo with subtle variations and recover ball (or mould mid-rally momentum) like pros. A neutral’s favourite.
Lamine Yamal – Tai Tzu-ying Talent. Tricks. Tricky talents. Talented tricks. Result becomes secondary. Absolute happy-making sorcery.
Dembele – Ratchanok Can combine wizardry with solid wins. Won early, so struggle is to match those standards.
Rodri — Chen Yufei King / Queen of control and adaptability. Difficult to pinpoint how they play 4D chess. Maybe footwork for Yufei. Definitely footwork for Rodri.
Olise – Srikanth Beautiful game. No violence. Intuitive, skilled, innate winning shots (or passes), they live in a world of their own. Playing style is regal. Make slam bang attackers (/Argentina’s shady tricks) look distinctly uncool.
Johan Manzambi – Alwi Farhan Stars of the future. All-rounders. Elite skills. Indonesian Alwi Farhan’s running-behind jump backhand smash at Japan Open is just the sort of generational evolution a sport sees. Manzambi’s brace as a sub was a harbinger.
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Ismael Saibari – Kunlavut Vitidsarn Versatile. Tactical flexibility. Physically imposing. Combines power with precision. Technically efficient. Calm. While Saibari started with a clubfoot malformation, View suffered from nasal allergies.
Orlando Gill – Viktor Axelsen Huge. Gill is 6’6, Axelsen is 6’4. Formidable presence. Tall athleticism maxed out. Technical. Prone to combustion by just a stomp. The double Olympic champion is easily more decorated. But larger than life both.
Cucurella – Akane Yamaguchi Busy. Everywhere all at once. Unflappable. Legendary curls, iconic moptop. Content, so unhurried, non-desperate manner of playing, so not daunted by decisions. Quiet, effective, relentless, tenacious. Yamaguchi is 3-time world champ, nothing in her court presence screams it. She just is. They both just are.
Tielemans – Shi Yuqi Complete package. Technical, versatile, not hemmed in by a specific playing style. Quiet and unfazed, but don’t push it. Too much talent to not conquer, but success has come later than most.
Jordan Pickford – Carolina Marin Super competitive. Mighty prepared. No inch ceded. Gutsy, gushing. Words. Lots of words. For him – on water bottles. For her – in any interview. Marin won all there was to win. Pickford though heroically sent home.
Romelu Lukaku – HS Prannoy Intelligence. Calm problem solving ability. Has everything in the game, but brought down by fitness concerns. Can beat anyone when free of injuries. 90th minute for Lukaku, third set endgame for Prannoy. Cosmopolitan and armed with right words. In several languages. Good sport.
Bounou – Ayush Shetty Massive frames. Defensive beginnings, but in possession of big attack weapons. Both rule the net. Fiery tempers. But enigmatic big built-person games. Wins are inevitable.
Vinicius Jr – An Se-young The Korean all-conqueror has won multifold of what the Brazilian might have. But both their footworks are a study in perfection. The movement dictates the magic they create. Seen from any lens other than winning, the games are absolute elite. Both have had to fight off struggles beyond their stomping ground; his against racism, Se-young against officialdom.
There's a football spirit animal in each of the badminton stars. (AP Photo/Badminton Photo) 
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