Facing his contemporary from his junior days, Kunlavut Vitidsarn gave a nice exhibition of skill and control as he made his way into the Round of 16 at the TotalEnergies BWF World Championships 2022.

Local hope Kodai Naraoka, whom Vitidsarn beat in the final of the World Junior Championships 2018, has had some big results lately, making the finals of the Singapore Open and Taipei Open. With Vitidsarn intent on biding his time before going on the attack, there were long rallies, with one going 59 shots. The world No.17 Thai looked in command as he made Naraoka chase the shuttle through most of the second game in the 70-minute match, which he won 21-18 21-11.

Vitidsarn came away pleased with his efforts.

“Today I could control the shuttle and I didn’t make any mistakes. I’m happy because I could control everything on court.

“The shuttle was very slow and as it’s a big stadium, there was drift. I cannot control the shuttle when I move fast and play fast. To control the shuttle I had to play slow first, and then sometimes change my pace. If you attack too much, you get tired, because the shuttle is slow.”

The model he aspires to is Kento Momota during his glory days.

“I have to learn from Momota, the way he used to play Axelsen. He was so good at controlling in the wind; whether it was a big stadium or small stadium, he could control every shot. He could play everything.”

The German Open winner said he felt in better form that at the recent Asian events. But, he added, there was much to develop in his game.

“I feel better than the earlier tournaments in Indonesia and Malaysia, I was moving much slower there. I would make a lot of mistakes when there was drift.

“I need to attack more. I can defend all right. My opponents can play rallies and make me tired and force mistakes. I need to attack more, but I need to learn how to play in such conditions when shuttles are slow, and how to attack at the right time.”