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The rise of Western badminton is here. In this video, we break down France’s historic 2026 Thomas Cup run, the growth of players like Alex Lanier and the Popov brothers, and why countries outside Asia are becoming serious contenders in international badminton. We explore how coaching, YouTube, sports science, mental strength, and athletic development are changing the game forever. We also discuss the controversial Thomas Cup rules, Olympic medal comparisons, and the future of badminton worldwide. Plus, we share how the GGAB app aims to help badminton players improve using AI-powered performance insights, match tracking, and pro comparisons.
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0:00
On May 3rd, 2026, France entered the
0:03
finals of the Thomas Cup for the first
0:04
time in history,
0:06
narrowly losing out to China with two of
0:07
the losses being close three-set
0:09
battles.
0:11
This was no easy feat for France either,
0:12
as they had to win out over historic
0:14
badminton powerhouse [music]
0:15
Indonesia during the group stage, and
0:18
then Japan and India in the next two
0:20
rounds to get to the finals.
0:23
These quote-unquote upsets
0:25
weren't necessarily completely out of
0:27
the blue, though.
0:28
France had already demonstrated that
0:30
their players were more than capable of
0:32
taking on the top players in the world
0:34
with players like the Popovs and Alex
0:37
Lanier.
0:38
In fact,
0:39
there seems to be an overall rise of top
0:41
badminton athletes across Western
0:43
nations in general, where the
0:45
competition has become much more
0:46
diverse.
0:48
Today, we're going to talk about that
0:49
rise and why Western countries like
0:51
France will continue to be top
0:52
contenders to watch out for as the sport
0:55
grows.
0:56
Though badminton was technically a game
0:58
created in England,
0:59
it's historically been most popular in
1:01
Asian countries like Indonesia,
1:03
Malaysia, and China.
1:05
Aside from Denmark,
1:07
no Western country had produced any
1:09
player that consistently and seriously
1:11
contested major international titles.
1:14
Anytime a player from the West beat a
1:16
player from a country like China or
1:17
Indonesia, it would be an insane upset
1:20
to mark down in history and generally
1:22
once-in-a-while events.
1:24
Today, however, things are different.
1:26
While some of the past games like
1:28
Christo Popov beating Shi Yu Qi at the
1:30
World Tour Finals or Victor Lai beating
1:33
Loh Kean Yew
1:34
to enter a World Championship semifinals
1:36
can be considered big upsets,
1:39
these players have demonstrated that
1:40
they can repeat these performances
1:42
consistently.
1:44
These players did not just play insanely
1:46
well on that one day.
1:49
They're consistently competing at the
1:51
top level.
1:54
What has allowed Western countries to
1:55
rise up and challenge Eastern countries
1:57
in badminton, at least in our opinion,
2:00
comes down to two main factors.
2:03
First, the historic gap in technique and
2:05
strategy has been neutralized due to an
2:08
exodus of foreign players and coaches
2:10
alongside the internet. And with
2:12
technique and strategy neutralized,
2:13
[music]
2:14
mental and physical
2:16
become almost the main defining factors
2:19
for who ultimately wins.
2:21
Western cultures and values, alongside
2:24
the resources available in many of these
2:26
countries,
2:27
can often develop superior athletes in
2:30
general.
2:31
And is why many Western players [music]
2:33
can succeed despite having a much
2:36
smaller talent pool and competitive
2:38
ecosystem.
2:45
It doesn't matter how fit or mentally
2:46
strong you are if you can't hit the
2:48
shuttle over the net.
2:49
For the longest time, Eastern countries
2:51
dominated because their technique and
2:53
strategy was far better than the West.
2:56
The competitive environments forced
2:57
every player to experiment and
2:59
consistently improve their technique to
3:00
win.
3:01
You couldn't just be consistent.
3:03
You had to be deceptive and able to read
3:05
your opponent to make it as a player in
3:07
the East.
3:09
This constant competition
3:11
resulted in a lot of learnings where
3:12
players and coaches could pass to each
3:14
other.
3:15
And for a while,
3:17
these learnings were contained in their
3:18
respective countries.
3:21
Of course, you cannot keep things a
3:22
secret forever.
3:24
Gradually, top coaches and players would
3:26
eventually leave their countries for
3:28
various reasons and share what they have
3:30
learned.
3:31
Badminton would at some point get
3:32
popular enough in Western countries that
3:34
people would eventually make business
3:35
cases to hire coaches from foreign
3:38
countries.
3:39
And while foreign coaches and players
3:41
certainly made a difference,
3:43
nothing would be arguably more impactful
3:45
than the internet,
3:46
and particularly video sharing services
3:48
like YouTube.
3:50
It is easy to forget that YouTube only
3:51
came out in 2005.
3:53
And the BWF did not establish a presence
3:56
until like 2011.
3:59
YouTube and the internet has made
4:00
getting good at badminton much simpler
4:02
compared to before.
4:04
You no longer need a professional coach
4:06
to tell you exactly how to play.
4:08
They can speed up the process, but
4:10
nowadays
4:11
you can just watch a video
4:13
and try to emulate the players.
4:16
And with how [music] accessible cameras
4:18
are nowadays via smartphones, you can
4:20
also just record yourself and compare
4:22
how your gameplay looks against the
4:23
pros.
4:25
The result is that no international
4:27
player nowadays ever has poor technique
4:29
or shot choice.
4:31
There are constantly opportunities to
4:32
review your own footage, compare with
4:34
players that are outperforming you, and
4:36
identify weaknesses to fix and practice.
4:40
This is ultimately why we're making the
4:42
GGAB app in the first place. We want to
4:44
make it easier for badminton players to
4:46
identify strengths and weaknesses,
4:48
and improve their gameplay.
4:50
The vision is that AI will be able to
4:52
provide deep insights based on
4:53
integration of multiple data sources. As
4:56
an example, you might find that
4:58
improving your sleep by taking some
5:00
supplement could lead to less unforced
5:02
errors. Or something like your footwork
5:04
could benefit from a specific plyometric
5:07
training exercise based on your impact
5:09
when you lunge.
5:10
Now, don't expect these features yet.
5:13
We are still in the beta phase
5:15
and experimenting heavily.
5:16
That's why beta users who sign up now
5:19
get a heavily discounted price forever.
5:22
We are planning to launch the official
5:23
version with prices at $28 per month.
5:26
Beta users can get in for $11 per month.
5:29
Currently, you are able to track your
5:31
matches automatically now.
5:33
And you can expect us to be rolling out
5:34
the feature to compare a lot of your
5:36
data with pros, alongside more insights
5:39
in your tracked gameplay.
5:41
With how western players have been able
5:43
to close the historic gap in technique
5:45
and strategy, mental and physical
5:47
suddenly become much more important
5:48
factors.
5:50
And arguably, this is where many Western
5:52
countries have the advantage.
5:54
We can talk about the mental advantage
5:56
first.
5:57
Having experienced both Western and
5:59
Eastern cultures across many different
6:00
countries, we noticed that Western
6:02
culture has a tendency to rise to the
6:04
challenge, while Eastern cultures tend
6:06
to punish people for not getting
6:08
results.
6:09
Like in many Western countries, you'll
6:11
get awards for just participating and
6:12
trying your best.
6:14
But if you grew up in an Asian
6:15
household, you've probably experienced
6:17
getting slapped on the wrist for the one
6:19
[music] mistake you made.
6:21
Of course, this is a huge
6:23
generalization, but you can kind of see
6:25
how that plays out on the international
6:26
badminton stage. If you just take a
6:28
second to think about players who tend
6:30
to look nervous when they play, it's
6:32
often players from countries based in
6:34
Asia.
6:38
Western players, on the other hand,
6:40
always seem to be fighters that really
6:42
never give up.
6:44
Once again, there are exceptions,
6:46
but a stronger mental is key when
6:48
everything else like technique,
6:50
strategy,
6:51
and physical
6:52
are on similar levels.
6:55
Speaking of physical, though,
6:57
this is where Western countries do have
6:59
a lot more resources and [music] success
7:01
in building capable athletes.
7:04
The best proof of this is to see how
7:06
well a country performs across many
7:08
different sports.
7:10
And perhaps the best way to see this is
7:12
to look at the Olympic Games.
7:14
If we look at the post-Cold War era from
7:16
1992 to now, China, Japan, and South
7:21
Korea are the only Asian countries in
7:23
the top 20.
7:25
Now, for the sake of this video,
7:27
when we refer to Eastern and Asian
7:28
countries,
7:30
we're referring to countries like India,
7:31
China, Japan, South Korea, Thailand,
7:34
Indonesia, Malaysia, etc.
7:36
You can argue that Russia and Australia
7:38
could be in the same category,
7:39
>> [music]
7:40
>> but we don't think people would put
7:41
Australia and Malaysia together when
7:43
talking about badminton. People would
7:45
generally bunch countries like Australia
7:47
and Canada together.
7:49
So when you look at this Olympic list,
7:50
you can begin to see how Western
7:52
badminton players are able to win
7:53
against nations that were historically
7:55
badminton powerhouses.
7:57
These nations have access to far more
7:59
developed infrastructure, athletic
8:01
performance research, and qualified
8:03
professionals that can really customize
8:05
an athlete's plan for success, even if
8:08
badminton isn't the most popular sport.
8:15
For context, India sits at 21, Thailand
8:18
at 25, Indonesia at 30, and Malaysia at
8:21
40 in this Olympic list. These countries
8:24
just don't have as much support and
8:25
infrastructure for athletes.
8:28
At least not yet.
8:30
This is also why countries like China,
8:31
South Korea, and Japan still
8:33
consistently produce overall strong
8:35
badminton teams,
8:37
and particularly China.
8:39
They made heavy investment into
8:40
developing athletes,
8:42
and when you combine that with
8:43
badminton's existing popularity,
8:46
you get teams with significant depth and
8:48
skill.
8:55
>> [cheering]
8:57
>> Speaking of depth,
8:58
we did want to touch on whether the 2026
9:01
Thomas Cup was rigged. For those that
9:04
don't know,
9:05
France's win over some countries,
9:07
particularly India,
9:08
was controversial as they won 3-0
9:10
without having to play doubles.
9:15
This was due to a rule that states
9:17
no player can play in two consecutive
9:20
matches or play doubles before singles.
9:24
Because Christo Popov and Toma Junior
9:25
Popov were France's men's singles one
9:28
and men's singles three
9:30
and men's doubles one all at the same
9:31
time, France's order of play was always
9:34
going to be three men's singles matches
9:35
first
9:36
>> [music]
9:36
>> and then men's doubles two,
9:38
and men's doubles one last.
9:41
What that meant was that India's top
9:43
doubles pair,
9:44
Rankireddy and Shetty, never got a
9:46
chance to contribute in that match.
9:48
And people feel that France's win was
9:50
unfair as their singles players are
9:52
higher ranked while India's strongest
9:55
was in doubles, especially with Lakshya
9:57
Sen out.
9:59
Our own take is that team events like
10:00
the Thomas [music] and Uber Cup should
10:02
reward depth. It's a pretty bad viewing
10:04
experience to come watch this event with
10:06
hopes of seeing Rankireddy drop a
10:08
massive smash
10:10
and then [music] not even getting to see
10:11
him play.
10:12
We like to compare the situation with
10:14
managing an NBA basketball team, too.
10:17
You can get the five best all-time
10:18
basketball players on one team
10:20
and no one on the bench, but there's no
10:22
way you're going to win the NBA because
10:24
these five will just run out of energy.
10:27
You need teammates in a team game.
10:29
And if the BWF is trying to do a team
10:31
event in badminton,
10:33
they should emphasize the team aspect
10:36
Our thoughts are to either just let
10:38
players who are signed up to play
10:39
multiple events play them subsequently
10:41
or force the team to select other
10:43
players.
10:44
Either way,
10:45
it makes it more team-oriented where a
10:47
country like France
10:49
would need to seriously consider whether
10:50
it makes more sense to play the Popoffs
10:52
in singles or doubles.
10:57
And if you add an additional
10:58
randomization of the match order
11:00
after all players have been selected,
11:02
you can reduce capabilities of countries
11:04
manipulating the system.
11:06
And we could certainly get some
11:07
interesting games.
11:09
These are just our thoughts, though.
11:10
Let us know what you think in the
11:11
comments below.
11:13
The rules shouldn't take anything away
11:14
from France's wins in close battle with
11:16
China, though.
11:17
They still ultimately beat their
11:18
opponents in many singles matches played
11:20
by different players,
11:22
which is still a good indicator of the
11:24
team's depth.
11:26
And what France's success shows is the
11:27
incoming rise of other nations in
11:29
badminton, particularly those in the
11:30
West.
11:32
When coaches in the internet has helped
11:33
close technical and strategical gaps,
11:36
it will be the countries that can
11:38
develop better athletes overall that
11:39
will succeed.
11:41
It's why you're starting to see so much
11:43
diversity in badminton now.
11:45
As athletes from more affluent
11:47
countries, where badminton isn't as
11:49
popular,
11:50
are able to succeed by leveling up all
11:53
aspects of their game.
11:55
Skill and strategy are not the only
11:57
things that matter in badminton.
11:59
Mental and physical matter just as much
12:01
now, and finding the right balance of
12:03
training everything will be key to
12:05
success.
12:07
If you like this video, make sure to hit
12:09
the like and subscribe button so you
12:10
don't miss out on future content.
12:13
Remember that the GGAB app beta is still
12:15
open right now.
12:17
And as always, please feel free to
12:18
comment below
12:20
on what you want to see next. Thanks for
12:22
watching.
12:29
>> [music]
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