How a 31-year-old world No 31 beat badminton legend Lee Chong Wei without a coach in his corner

Glasgow: Brice Leverdez calls himself a strong character who hates to lose and adds in the same breath that for years he wanted to quit the sport every time he lost. That would have been quite an ordeal for him and his coach Bertrand Gallet, since the 31-year-old has lost over 200 of the 496 matches he has played in only his senior career.

But as most players would tell you that in sport you lose more than you win, till you find that one moment which tells you why you play it in the first place.

Leverdez, who is also the World No 31, insists that after playing for so many years, he has finally found that reason to stay calm and play. And though he doesn’t want to disclose what the reason is, he ensured that he made the most of that zen-like mental state to create the biggest upset of the BWF World Championship so far with a three-game win over second seed Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia.

The sight of Leverdez running around the court taking baby steps to celebrate every big point and thriving on the crowd support was as engaging a sight as when he stretched his arms out to celebrate what was his second victory over the Malaysian in two years. The first one had come in the Denmark Open last year, a tournament he wanted to skip because he wasn’t playing well but went to only because the bookings were made to train with some of the local players and he couldn’t afford to lose the money.

He has been on his own since February 2015 when he was expelled from the national squad over differences with the French Federation and had no one in his coach’s corner during the first round encounter as his coach has also been blacklisted for supporting the players during that period.

Though things have improved a lot and Leverdez is part of the official French contingent only for the World Championship in Glasgow, he asked the national team coach and Danish legend Peter Gade to not sit for his match as he did not feel comfortable with the idea. “I like a coach who either knows me or makes me relax. Peter doesn’t know me and I feel stressed if he is at the court side and I told him as much,” says Leverdez, who has eight national titles and two Olympic appearances to show for his efforts.

“I am 31 now and know what to play and so it isn’t difficult to be out there on my own,” added the Parisian, who launched his own clothesline a few years ago and has been juggling his time between badminton and business.

The business is still at a nascent stage and Leverdez insists that his badminton was doing better than his company and hence he still devotes 60% of his time to the sport that he picked up as a 12-year-old during a vacation.

Performance pressure

He made it to the national centre by the time he was 18 but it was the pressure of performance he put on himself that was probably responsible for the lack of success in major events. “But when I came here, I told myself to go on court and enjoy. Tactically I always knew what I had to do against him but I needed to keep calm and stay relaxed,” Leverdez said while looking back at the first round match against Lee Chong Wei.

He needed a lot of that as a successful challenge from Chong Wei on his first match point extended the tie into the decider and it was not till the business end of the game that he had a look in to turn the tables on the man who has three silver medals at the World Championship.

“When he [Chong Wei] mishit that net dribble on match point, I left it and somehow knew that it was right. But the line umpire gave it out and Chong Wei challenged. At that time the clock was showing 53 minutes and my legs are already tired.

“But at 15-11 in the decider I told myself to play more safe and wait for him to make mistakes. And at 17-17 he probably lost his mind and gave three easy points,” he adds.

Leverdez knows that he has wasted many such good wins in the past. Last year’s Denmark Open where he defeated Chong Wei only to play a completely wrong game and was hammered in straight games by Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk is the perfect example.

“I know that playing an attacking game is my strength. But many a time, I make the mistake of not playing to my strengths by thinking too much about the opponents. Against Chong Wei, I knew I had no choice,” adds Leverdez, who won the 2013 Scottish Open title at the same venue and believes that the slow courts here suit him.

Whether he makes the chance count and makes it to the business end of the tournament will depend on if he can keep his composure when he is expected to win in the second round against world number 102 Zvonimir Durkinjak of Croatia.