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Why has 2024 World Junior Champion Hu Zhe An struggled on the senior badminton stage? In this video, we break down the hidden flaws in Hu Zhe An’s gameplay, why his elite spin net strategy that dominated junior badminton doesn't work as well in the senior stage. We also take a look at adjustments Hu Zhe An is making at the 2026 Malaysia Masters. Does Hu Zhe An have what it takes to become a future world-class player?
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0:00
A couple of days ago we made a video
0:01
talking about the strategy that many
0:03
Chinese players follow to become the
0:04
best in the world. It was one that
0:06
stemmed primarily from our time training
0:08
in China and working with various
0:10
Chinese coaches.
0:12
Where a three-layer system of
0:13
controlling your opponents with
0:15
high-quality pushes using catching the
0:17
opportunity concepts and leveraging
0:19
deceptions proved to be an extremely
0:21
effective way to win efficiently.
0:23
Of course,
0:24
there are exceptions and not all Chinese
0:26
players will do the exact same. The 2024
0:29
World Junior Champion, Hu Je'an, is a
0:32
good example.
0:33
We've previously made videos on his
0:35
gameplay and discussed how he had been
0:37
beating his opponents by blocking toward
0:39
the middle and winning through superior
0:41
net play.
0:43
But as some commenters on our videos
0:44
have pointed out though,
0:46
Hu Je'an has not delivered the results
0:48
that many were expecting of him. From
0:50
2025 to now, Hu Je'an has yet to win a
0:53
senior-level tournament. Not to mention
0:55
his multiple first-round exits.
0:57
And even what seems to be a struggle to
0:59
get out of qualifiers.
1:01
Was Hu Je'an's World Junior Championship
1:03
win just a one-time thing?
1:04
Let's take a deeper look.
1:08
What made Hu Je'an a World Junior
1:09
Champion was his net play. He had elite
1:12
spin net skills that he could build his
1:14
entire game around.
1:17
First you add good backcourt skills like
1:19
a fast and accurate smash because you'll
1:21
often get the lift.
1:23
Then you add in deceptive pushes and
1:25
fast drives
1:26
so that your opponent can't just focus
1:28
on the net.
1:29
Finally, you build speed and fluidity in
1:32
your movements to pretty much always be
1:34
in position to take the net early
1:37
and attack.
1:38
And while doing so, play everything more
1:40
towards the middle
1:42
to minimize mistakes.
1:45
This strategy worked great at the junior
1:47
level
1:48
where you could frequently meet
1:49
lower-level players that may make many
1:50
errors themselves and or not have good
1:53
enough shot quality to seriously punish
1:55
Hu Je'an.
1:56
Hu Je'an was a world junior champion
1:59
because he both made less mistakes than
2:00
his opponents
2:02
and had a definitive way to score.
2:06
On the senior stage, however, things are
2:07
different.
2:11
The problem with Hu Qian's style
2:13
is that it's extremely tiring and gets
2:15
more tiring the more consistent your
2:17
opponent is.
2:18
The nature of playing a game that
2:19
revolves around out-skilling your
2:21
opponents at the net
2:22
is that you have to take the net early.
2:26
At the junior level, this is fine.
2:29
You'll play against players, especially
2:30
in the early rounds, where there is a
2:32
big enough skill gap to take it easy.
2:34
At the senior level, however,
2:36
it doesn't work as well because everyone
2:37
is very good.
2:39
You can just look at some of the players
2:40
Hu Qian had to play in the qualifying
2:42
stages and first rounds.
2:44
Names like Su Li Yang, Takuma Obayashi,
2:47
and Julian Caraggi are players that have
2:49
demonstrated gameplay that's competitive
2:52
among the top 25 players in the world
2:55
despite their lower ranking.
2:57
A player like Hu Qian will likely have
3:00
to play near 100% speeds from the get-go
3:03
to win.
3:04
And to maintain that speed
3:07
not just across one match,
3:09
but repeatedly over the next couple of
3:11
days of the tournament
3:13
is a struggle.
3:16
In other words, it was enough to just
3:18
win at the junior level. At the senior
3:20
level, however, you must win
3:21
efficiently.
3:23
Now, because Hu Qian no longer has the
3:25
luxury of taking it easy against certain
3:26
opponents, there are a few fatal flaws
3:28
that are exposed. What caught our eye
3:30
was Hu Qian's shot quality in his late
3:32
corners,
3:33
where late forehands, backhands, and
3:35
around-the-head drops could frequently
3:37
seem to be too high and easy for pro
3:39
players to punish.
3:40
And when analyzing deeper,
3:42
you will have to credit some of that
3:43
weaker shot quality in the late back
3:45
court to Hu Qian's movements,
3:48
where his focus on the front court has
3:50
often led to slower reactions on pushes
3:52
and clears.
3:54
This is a major weakness when you
3:55
consider that Hu Zi An's defensive play
3:57
is not his strength either. Playing a
3:58
clear in the back court is not something
4:00
that he'll generally prefer.
4:02
Thus, pro players have been countering
4:04
Hu Zi An
4:05
by playing a game of pushing Hu Zi An
4:07
into the back court and then focusing on
4:09
the front court return.
4:11
By constantly taking the shuttle earlier
4:13
at the net compared to Hu Zi An, the
4:15
idea is you constantly put pressure on
4:17
Hu Zi An
4:19
to take the shuttle late until he
4:20
eventually plays a short lift or clear
4:23
that you can kill.
4:44
The other thing is that playing to the
4:45
middle is good for alleviating pressure
4:47
on yourself.
4:49
But it is also easy for your opponent to
4:51
retrieve.
4:56
Hu Zi An's strategy was heavily reliant
4:57
on his spin nets being better than his
4:59
opponent's, but what if it wasn't?
5:02
The reality at the senior level is that
5:04
there are a number of players whose net
5:06
game is on par, if not better. A lot of
5:08
his opponents are simply lifting his
5:10
nets with good speed and quality. That
5:12
makes it really difficult to win with
5:13
most of your shots going toward the
5:15
middle. You can't easily smash through a
5:17
pro player,
5:18
especially when they play to lift with
5:19
good depth.
5:20
And if they don't have to move on
5:21
defense,
5:23
they'll always have the priority on the
5:24
next shot.
5:26
This only increases the need for Hu Zi
5:28
An to play at unsustainable speeds
5:30
and puts him in situations where despite
5:32
being the one attacking,
5:34
he's the one out of position.
5:39
We should note that experience in
5:41
general plays a major role as well. At
5:43
the time of writing this script, Hu Zi
5:45
An has just won against Jonathan
5:46
Christie,
5:48
and already taken down Alex Lanier prior
5:50
at the 2026 Malaysia Masters. So,
5:52
clearly the wins in his junior days were
5:54
not one-time occurrences.
5:56
One thing that changes a lot is the
5:58
consideration of who Hu Zi An has
6:00
actually played on the world stage.
6:02
Chinese junior players rarely ever play
6:04
international tournaments when they are
6:06
at the junior level. You can just take a
6:08
look at world junior rankings right now
6:10
and see that the two top Chinese players
6:13
have only played three tournaments when
6:15
others have often played more than 10.
6:17
This is because it's typically not worth
6:19
that much for Chinese players to play
6:21
junior international tournaments given
6:23
how strong domestic competition is, and
6:25
senior tournaments are typically
6:27
reserved for the senior national team
6:28
players.
6:29
What that means is that prior to 2024,
6:32
Hu Zi An has never actually competed in
6:34
a senior-level BWF tournament. You can
6:37
argue that domestic Chinese competition
6:39
can often be at a higher level than
6:41
international tournaments themselves,
6:43
but it's not all about the level.
6:45
Chinese players tend to be methodical in
6:47
their coaching and gameplay. So, most
6:49
players ultimately end up with similar
6:51
techniques and forms.
6:53
On the international stage, however,
6:55
>> [music]
6:55
>> you could face players that play very
6:57
differently,
6:58
and that in itself can be enough to
6:59
throw you off and lose you the game.
7:02
Both Wang Hong Yang's loss against Yan
7:04
Lyuda and Li Shifeng's loss against
7:06
Misha Zilberman are prime examples.
7:08
Additionally, limited international
7:10
tournament experience also meant that Hu
7:12
Zi An was not particularly experienced
7:14
in adapting to the environment. A
7:16
challenge that few people ever talk
7:17
about
7:18
is how pros need to play in one playing
7:20
condition one day and then suddenly
7:22
switch to a new one the next week.
7:25
Shuttles change,
7:26
venues change,
7:28
and even food and time zone adjustments
7:30
will make huge impacts.
7:32
Thus, Hu Zi An undoubtedly needs time to
7:34
adjust, while a player like Alex Lanier
7:37
can see immediate success in transition
7:38
to senior because, well, Lanier has been
7:40
playing senior BWF international
7:42
tournaments since 2021. And perhaps we
7:45
are already seeing those adjustments
7:47
come in. You can already see that quite
7:49
a few adjustments have been made where
7:51
his gameplay is now revolving less
7:53
around purely out-spinning his
7:55
opponents. The gameplay is now more
7:57
patient. And interestingly enough,
7:59
moving towards the Chinese style of play
8:01
that we talked about in our last video.
8:03
You can see this when we compare Hu
8:04
Jian's shot choices from when he played
8:07
Cho Hyun-woo in his junior days and when
8:09
he played Alex Lanier at the 2026
8:12
Malaysia Masters.
8:13
The story of Hu Jian's gameplay at the
8:15
Dutch Junior International reflected
8:17
that of a player who often took control
8:19
of the net and looked to score points
8:21
from attacking in the back court.
8:23
Against Lanier, however,
8:25
that net usage has been toned down and
8:28
you can see more of a defensive control
8:30
game happening rather than one centered
8:32
around setting up for back court
8:34
attacking opportunities.
8:36
What do you guys think though?
8:38
Will Hu Jian become a top player? Let us
8:40
know in the comments below.
8:42
If you like the video, make sure to hit
8:43
the like and subscribe button so you
8:45
don't miss out on future content.
8:47
As always, thanks for watching.
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