Milena Schnider loses, but in glorious fashion

It was exciting to see how the Swiss representatives from Swiss Badminton would fare in the singles disciplines on the second day of the tournament. At the start of the tournament, they were all eliminated in the doubles categories - in some cases narrowly and gloriously, in others clearly as expected. And that was also the case on Wednesday. Tobias Künzi, who was allowed to take part in the Basel main draw as world number 103 thanks to a wild card, fought valiantly against India's Priyanshu Rajawat, but without any luck and was ultimately eliminated in 29 minutes with a score of 10:21 and 11:21, as expected.

Milena Schnider was a different story. She had her sights set on joining the ‘glorious’ faction, as was to become clear. Her opponent: China's Luo Yu Wu, 24 years old and therefore just one year older than the 2024 Swiss champion. Nevertheless, it is safe to assume that she has tens of thousands more hours of training in her legs and arms in her badminton career. This was also evident in the first round, in which Schnider had no chance with a score of 14:21.

However, anyone expecting the second set to continue in the same vein was mistaken. Although Luo Yu Wu quickly took the lead, Schnider persevered and thus kept the score close. ‘I was more daring,’ she explained after the match, explaining what she had changed compared to the first set, ‘and I also tried something unconventional.’ The fact that she won point after point was obviously just as surprising to her opponent as it was to herself, as she admitted afterwards in the mixed zone with a laugh. You could see that she was pleased with her performance, which even saw her take an 18:15 lead in the second set. She won the longest rally, much to the delight of the crowd - a crowd that was as vociferous as it was numerous: had there ever been so many spectators on a Wednesday at the Yonex Swiss Open in Basel's St. Jakobshalle?

But back to Milena Schnider. Her opponent didn't take it lying down that she was repeatedly put on the defensive. And so she tightened the reins, equalised, took the lead and had a match point, which Schnider - of course - smashed away in a glorious, very courageous manner. 20:20, but that was it for the Schnider show. Luo Yu Wu won the last two shuttles. Victory in 38 minutes.

However, the evening was not over for the loser. Many young badminton fans were waiting outside the interview zone to get her autographs and selfies. Milena Schnider was happy to join in. Although she had just been eliminated in the first round, she felt like a winner: ‘It was so much fun, I really want to experience it again.’ One might wish it for her. (AWS)