Text by BWF
Struggling to find form this season, Brian Yang finally found the win he so badly needed for his confidence.
It came against Czechia’s Jan Louda, giving Canada their first win of the TotalEnergies BWF Sudirman Cup Finals 2025 in Group B. Yang had to earn it the hard way, fighting with his back to the wall, and that’s what left him pleased at the end of the 72-minute battle – he’d shown the character he needed to come through against a clever and difficult opponent.
For much of the opening game the Canadian had to scramble against his tall left-handed opponent. Louda had the advantage early in the second, but Yang worked his way in and eventually found his flow, getting more assured as the match progressed. Towards the end he was firing winners with certainty. The 17-21 21-17 21-13 result gave Canada the winning point after Kevin Lee/Eliana Zhang (mixed doubles) and Wen Yu Zhang (women’s singles) had won the first two matches.
Canada then made it 4-0 through Jacqueline Cheung/Catherine Choi, who beat Tereza Svabikova/Katerina Zuzakova 21-19 21-13. Czechia earned a consolation win in men’s doubles through Jiri Kral and Ondrej Kral.
“The win was important both for the team and me personally,” said Yang. “It’s 3-0 for the tie and our first win of the tournament. We can be proud of that. Personally, I needed the win as well because I’ve been struggling and getting a win is a boost of confidence.”
Yang referred to a crisis of confidence this season, where he was able to win two matches in six World Tour tournaments. At the Pan Am Championships, where he was defending champion, Yang fell in the semifinals.
“It’s definitely more of a mental thing. Just trying to be consistent and a lot of losses in the first rounds and at the Pan Am Championships affects your confidence. Just feel like in training I can execute better but in tournaments it’s different. I’m trying to find that method to be able to perform in tournaments the way I do at training.
“Overall it’s been a relatively good tournament for me. I had a good first match against Chou (Tien Chen), and even though I lost, it was good for my confidence. Today I had to dig deep and come from behind to get the win, so that also gives me a boost.
“Coming in today, I knew he’s very stable, he has good touch, good stick smashes, and he’s just very solid. In the first game and a half, I felt he was in control all the time. He was controlling very well from the back and front. I had to scramble a lot and I was on the back foot for pretty much the first half of the match. I just tried to stay in it and work him around and that started to work when I got to the better side. Once I got to the better side it was easier for me to pressure him.”
Like Yang, his compatriot Wen Yu Zhang too had to dig her way out of trouble in her women’s singles match against Petra Maixnerova, which gave Canada a 2-0 lead.
“It was my first game in this venue, and I found the shuttle hard to control,” said Zhang. “In the second game I was able to be more patient and open up the court and play the shuttle higher and move her, so I could get used to the court.
“I was injured last year and I took a break from September to January, with an Achilles injury in my left leg. I put a lot more time into recovery and trying to make myself stronger overall. That helped a lot, because I feel a lot more stable in my game and my shots.”
