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Thailand has another top men's singles
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player coming up and his name is
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Panitchaphon Teeraratsakul.
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This has been a breakthrough year for
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with three runner-up finishes and two of
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them being super 500 tournaments.
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He has caught many people's eyes already
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with explosive attacking gameplay
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that has had some even compare him to
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players like Lin Dan and Lin Chun-Yi.
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Now for the sake of this video, we're
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going to call Panitchaphon Teeraratsakul
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The focus today is primarily his
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gameplay at the recent 2026 Malaysian
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Masters where he took down players like
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Christo Popov and eventually lost to Li
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Shifeng in the finals.
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Let's begin with some of EQ's strengths
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and what is getting him these wins
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before we have the discussion about the
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EQ's recent success comes at a good
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timing as in the back end, we're
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currently spending a lot of time
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researching more deeply on exactly how
1:02
Throughout our lives as badminton
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players, we've consistently been among
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the fittest and fastest when it comes to
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traditional fitness measurements like
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sprint speeds and weightlifting.
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But despite all this fitness, we would
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lose to retired national team players
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and feel like we're constantly under
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pressure while our opponents didn't
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break a sweat. It was later on that we
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realized our core problem was that we
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were mentally stuck in a slow playing
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rhythm. But how does this relate to EQ
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at the 2026 Malaysian Masters?
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Well, EQ's rhythm on court is fast and
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the speed in his first step was the main
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contributor to his wins.
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One thing we've come to realize is that
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it's not just enough to be fast, you
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have to be fast at the right time.
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And to many of you, this may sound
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your initial split step in reaction to
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has to be the fastest part of your game.
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You can't have a slow split step and
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then try to compensate by moving faster
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in your second step. That faster second
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step will be detrimental to your final
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when you actually play your shot, where
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you may no longer be able to control
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and recovery movement.
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Mastering timing though is one of the
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hardest parts of the game and there are
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levels even among pros.
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We attribute EQ's wins against Lu
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Guangzu and Christo Popov primarily
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because his initial reaction on many
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shots was much quicker than his
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opponents and enables him to gain
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control of the rally.
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And to understand this, let's look at
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Thai singles players are historically
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known for playing a box style with high
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use of fast, flat pushes and quick
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attacking shots in the back court
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designed to cut and feed off fast
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returns from their opponents.
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This is exactly how EQ plays and it is
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why the first step and reaction are so
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In a fast box style of game,
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shots are fast and flat. If you let the
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shuttle past you to take a late forehand
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or backhand in this faster paced game,
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you pretty much lost the rally. There's
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just not enough time for you to move all
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the way back and then forward again, no
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matter how strong you are.
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That is unless if you cut off the shot
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early. This is why that first step and
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initial reaction is so important. You
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don't want to be smashing all the way
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with your feet at the baseline, but if
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you're quick and cut off the shot before
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it even reaches the double service line,
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the shot you'll play will come at a much
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quicker pace that makes it difficult for
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your opponents to react to.
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Now it's important that we don't think
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of this first step concept as a raw
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reaction and movement speed. Training
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reaction speeds could help,
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but this first step really depends more
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on an understanding and anticipation of
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the game's pace. What allowed EQ to take
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down Lu Guangzu and Christo Popov
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was that he was setting the pace of the
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game at a much higher speed than what
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Liu and Christo were prepared for.
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Just take a look at this rally, for
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Although EQ ultimately makes the
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you can see how he is the one
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controlling the rally
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because he is playing at a faster mental
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The higher level you get,
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the more nuanced the game becomes,
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where it's no longer only anticipating
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what's the next shot,
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but also at what time the shot is coming
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Liu's rhythm on court often gives us a
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sense of hit weight split go.
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What happens if Liu's opponent breaks
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Well, the answer is Liu will probably be
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late to the next shot.
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It was often the case that EQ took the
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and didn't let Liu have his waiting
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Liu was more often the one that was
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And your chances of making mistakes
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under pressure is always higher.
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It was a similar story against Christo.
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Typically, Christo is actually really
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good at this style, but likely fatigue
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and other factors has made Christo
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slower in his first step. You can see it
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when you look at things like body turns
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and how the racket comes out in response
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EQ generally has very quick movements
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while Christo's had more of a lagging
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feel at the 2016 Malaysia Masters.
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You know, something that frequently
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comes up in our comment section is how
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we make the subject player look like
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he's the best in the world with zero
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And it probably feels was way for EQ by
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An instantaneous first step that makes
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him always early and constantly
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pressuring his opponents. What can
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Well, as Li Shifeng showed in the
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The problem with EQ is that his gameplay
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is pretty much limited to his box style.
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And the more one-dimensional your
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gameplay is, the easier it is to
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Li Shifeng was almost stylistically the
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perfect counter to EQ.
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He is a player that's extremely
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explosive and has that really quick
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But he uses it more selectively.
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In particular, Li Shifeng prioritizes
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injecting speed in response to EQ's
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flatter attacking pushes.
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And when EQ is not playing those shots,
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the game revolves more around control.
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Li Shifeng's higher lifts and pushes are
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what ultimately won him the game
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and something that EQ didn't make enough
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use of in his own game.
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But if you are moving at max speed in
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every push off, you will quickly burn
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You can train your physical to handle
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playing at max speed.
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But just like we mentioned in our video
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the best players don't just win,
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they win efficiently.
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And to win efficiently,
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it's about selecting the right times to
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Since Li Shifeng was not particularly
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scared of EQ's back court attacking
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when he plays a lift with good height
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the gameplay was simple for him.
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Tire EQ out with front and back
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You can slow down the game and afford to
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be a little late on your shot
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if you can play a high quality lift.
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Mix in some nets just to make sure EQ
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isn't always just waiting back to
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Then Li Shifeng just has to make sure
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the shuttle does not easily pass him in
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And force EQ to move even faster than
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what he's capable of by redirecting the
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quick shots with more speed.
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The stats support this story, too. EQ
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had scored the vast majority of his
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points from playing winners.
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Li Shifeng, on the other hand,
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scored mostly from EQ's unforced errors.
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What this shows is that Li Shifeng
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generally scored more efficiently.
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He could get a lot of points just from
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EQ forcing the attack.
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Now, we don't think EQ should have
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always been on the attack. He's
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definitely showed the skill where he
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doesn't need to constantly attack
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and can play more of a patient game.
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There is a tendency for younger players
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to play as fast as they can
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under the impression that trying your
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hardest means playing full speed all the
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But badminton is not always a game of
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speed and power. Skill and strategy is
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just as important and becomes
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increasingly more important the higher
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level you have to play.
8:37
If you like this video,
8:39
make sure to hit the like and subscribe
8:40
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8:42
content. Let us know what you would like
8:44
to see next in the comments below. And
8:46
as always, thank you for watching.
