Cai Yun & Fu Hai Feng

Cai Yun and Fu Hai Feng have been men doubles partners in badminton for quite a long time.

They are the current world no.1 badminton doubles pair in 2012, silver medallist of the 2008 Beijing Olympics and 4-times Badminton World Champions.

Cai Yun and Fu Hai Feng are one of most perfect doubles combination in badminton.

Cai Yun is right handed while Fu Hai Feng is left handed. This alone makes their defence more solid as left and right handed pairs in badminton are able to cover a wider range of defence.

However, what makes this pair so special is their unique attributes.

Cai Yun
He is a very skilful player able to read the game very well at the front of the court.

Cai does not have the strength to perform strong smashes as most doubles badminton players can.

However, it is his technique at the net, his sharp reaction, and ability to read net shots that contributes to the partnership so well.

Fu Hai Feng
He is a power player. He is weaker at the net compared to his partner, Cai.

He does not have good net skills and is poorer at reading the game from the front of the court. However, it’s his ability to produce powerful shots that impresses people.

Fu Hai Feng holds the record for hitting the FASTEST SMASH in badminton during a competition.

He’s also extremely agile in moving around the court.

Greatest Opponents

Korean Pair Jung Jae Sung &amp Lee Yong Dae
There are some great badminton doubles combinations that are up to Cai/Fu’s standards.

In 2011, Cai/Fu faced the threat of another defeat by Jung Jae Sung and Lee Yong Dae.

Before this, Cai and Fu had been defeated by Jung and Lee in 3 consecutive tournaments during the last quarter of 2011.

Cai and Fu could not find their best form!

It was not an easy task to defeat the Korean pair. They finally managed to draw victory over the Koreans during a home ground tournament, the Hong Kong Super Series 2011.

Markis Kido &amp Hendra Setiawan
Besides the Koreans, the Indonesian pair (also the 2008 Beijing Olympic Gold Medallists) Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan imposed a great threat to Cai and Fu’s title dreams.

In the finals of 2008 Beijing Olympics, Markis and Hendra denied the Chinese the gold medal.

However, Markis and Hendra were not performing very well in 2011. This made it easier for Cai and Fu.

Cai and Fu have not won an Olympics Gold up to 2011. They have a very good shot at the 2012 London Olympics.

As most of their competitors were out of form during the latest season in 2011. This includes Markis and Hendra as mentioned above, Koo Kien Kiat and Tan Boon Heong from Malaysia, and Marthias Boe and Carsten Morgensen from Denmark.

Their greatest opponents in the 2012 Olympics should be Jung Jae Sung and Lee Yong Dae of Korea.

Style of Play

The combination of Fu Hai Feng’s power play from the rear court and Cai Yun’s technique at the forecourt makes this partnership invincible.

The preferred and favourite combination of Cai and Fu will be to have Cai Yun at the front of the court while Fu Hai Feng smashing from behind.

Their style of play is pretty unique compared to other doubles pairs.

Once their opponents perform a high lift, Fu Hai Feng tries as hard as possible to get the back and Cai Yun to the front, that is, their attacking formation.

The special thing about their attacking formation is that Cai Yun sticks very close to Fu Hai Feng when Fu performs the attacks from the back.

The reason for this is to allow Cai Yun to intercept a straight and weak defensive block from their opponents.

They know that Fu Hai Feng’s smash is so powerful that their opponent will not be able to return a cross court shot.

Hence they take advantage of this, placing Cai Yun right in front of Fu when Fu does the attacks.

See the video below for a clearer picture.

The video above is a compilation of Cai and Fu’s attacking strategy.

As Fu Hai Feng attacks from the back of the court, Cai Yun moves right in front of Fu in an attempt to intercept a weak return.

You’ll realise that in many instances, one powerful shot by Fu from the back will force a weak return.

Then Cai Yun will intercept and win the rally.

In badminton doubles, the player standing in front will try to move to the centre of the court to cover a wider area as their partner smashes from behind.

Cai and Fu’s attacking formation is somewhat SPECIAL because Cai moves right in front of Fu as Fu attacks from behind.

However, the downside of this special formation is that it’s harder to rotate (switching roles with Cai moving to the back, while Fu moving to the front).

Specialty

The UNIQUE attacking formation mentioned in the above section enables them to perform quick channelling attacks.

As Cai stands right in front of Fu, Cai can quickly smash when their opponent returns a straightforward return.

This creates a series of fast channelling attacks.

Watch a video below of Cai Yun’s technique from the front of the court.

Watch a video of Fu Hai Feng’s jump smash. Observe closely what gives him so much power in the smash.

Fu Hai Feng is able to generate so much power in his smash because he performs an extremely large swing.

In order to perform such a large swing, one must have extremely good body balance.