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Journalism of Courage
The breathless badminton circuit goes on. And yet another time, as before, one of the Fab Four – Chen Yufei, Tai Tzu Ying, Akane Yamaguchi and An Se Young won the title in Indonesia: it has been the recurring theme of women’s singles. All immensely watchable, rendering it difficult to determine who the greatest women’s singles player of this era might be. Defining greatness might prove tougher in women’s singles badminton than the prevalent debate in tennis amongst Federer, Nadal and Djokovic. For what might be the parameters of ‘Greatest of Today’ during this golden generation of women’s shuttle? Surely, just a world ranking No 1 tag might not suffice.
Korean An Se Young has been unstoppable this year, having played seven finals, winning five of them. An immediacy bias tilts the scales in her favour for the sheer dominance and relentlessness. A complete player, she is a beast on clutch days on the Tour, and can push back just about anyone, twice Yamaguchi, and Chen Yufei at All England.
Akane Yamaguchi is the reigning World champion, twice over too. Se Young is yet to medal a gold at the World’s. Yamaguchi is no mug on the travelling caravan either, her several weeks on No 1 proving her circuit title dominance. She has 14 titles overall to Se Young’s 16.
An energy sapping style given the amount of running and retrieving she has to do, one would think she is due a break. But her idea of breaks too is losses in finals, going all the way before she falters. Her greatness packed in that 5’1″ frame explodes on Sundays often, and she’s been at it for 10 years winning her first Japan Open in 2013.
For sitting on the perch at the end of all that travel, tournament, training, Yamaguchi deserves the greatest title.
But she doesn’t have the Olympics medal. Chen Yufei, who won Indonesia, does. The Chinese don’t have a World title, in turn. Though both have scaled the No 1 ranking summit. Se Young hasn’t though she’s on the cusp.
Yufei has three Sudirman Cup titles to go with her Tokyo Olympics gold. An Olympic championship more than less makes up for all other lacunae in titles, though she still has 10 of those. From November 2018 Fuzhou China Open until January 2020 Malaysia Masters, Yufei played nine circuit finals and won nine. Her record in the next nine finals is somewhat dismal, winning only two. But she has the gold that matters; Olympic greatness trumps all others in badminton.
Tai Tzu Ying doesn’t have the Olympics gold. Yet. But she has every neutral’s love for her magical game style. Most watchable of the Fab Four, TTY has enriched badminton with her marvelous game of disguise and strokemaking dazzle. That she has won quite a bit even then – she has the Olympic silver – the World Tour Finals and All England thrice each, puts her into greatness contention, with very few aficionados who might vote against her. Like Chen Yufei though, TTY too doesn’t have the world title. Yet.
If the measure of greatness is simply the joy that abounds when watching a player, all of the Fab Four in all their permutations and combinations of matchups fulfil the criterion. Paris would consider itself lucky if the four line up, for such has been their overwhelming presence raising the quality of competition day after day, week after week. Yet, scripts seldom stick.
The one most eager to shred this bound narration, is also a tall claimant to the greatest contemporary debate: Carolina Marin. Three world titles, more than anyone else, and the Olympics title while she continues playing can get her to stake claim to the greatest tag, even if she’s struggling to make finals after her double ACL troubles. At 30, she might be the oldest of contenders at Paris, yet no one dare write her off anytime soon. Her speed is down and the aggression is far more muted these days. But a Marin at full tilt has in the past and will in the future, challenge the reigning names, and remains a dangerous floater in any draw she enters.
PV Sindhu can throw her name into the hat too. Olympic medals at back to back Games, and five Worlds medals including gold is not something the Fab Four or Marin can boast of right this moment, and on the consistency marker from three years ago, the Indian is nonpareil. Yet, three seasons have passed since she contended for the biggest prize at the World’s and only a resurgence this 2023 can help her claims. A sixth medal will put her past Zhang Nang with whom she’s tied on 5. Not too many circuit wins, but the World marker is formidable, though she remains the only one from the golden generation to not win an All England title.
Ratchanok Intanon has the World title from age 17, He Bingjiao consistently troubles the Fab Four and Nozomi Okuhara had a good run for a couple of seasons, but the debate for the greatest might remain confined to the four, plus Marin if recency isn’t indulged.
My scales tilt in favour of Tai Tzu Ying owing to her eternal style, though An Se Young looks set to bolt out the barn, leading from start to finish in the immediate future.
