The first match was about to begin, everyone was excited but the crowd was nowhere to be seen because during the last century everyone had become a shut-in, homebody or a hikkikomori who refused to leave their home.
The first men's seniors badminton tournament of the year was about to get underway in Yanjing. The players had already come to the court, and they both were warming up with each other by gently using their rackets to send the shuttlecock from this side to that side.
It was the first match of the round of 32, the tensions were high but as there was no crowd, everything was all too quiet on the court. On the side where there was the air-conditioner stood Liang Qiaofeng who was known all around the world for being a patient tactician, famous for his adaptability, deceptive shot-making, and composure under pressure, while his opponent Bagus Pramudya was a fearless and explosive youngster who was all about relentless pace and power.
Bagus began the first serve, he did it from the right service court, and with the power of his youth he used the racquet to serve the shuttlecock towards the left service area where a vigilant Liang Qiaofeng was ready to face the exuberance of the youth. When the shuttlecock arrived at his side, Liang Qiaofeng used the forehand to send it back to Bagus Pramudya who made a mistake, he used little force behind his response, the shuttlecock went a few metres away from the net, Liang Qiaofeng arrived in time and hit a net shot which went over the net and landed on the side. The umpire announced the score to badminton nerds watching online 1-0.
°°°
37 minutes 23 seconds later Liang Qiaofeng had won the match with a push shot. He celebrated his win by flashing a brilliant smile towards the camera, while on the other hand his opponent mourned his loss by wiping the sweat from his forehead with his index finger. Liang Qiaofeng had defeated Bagus Pramudya in three sets — 21-17, 14-21, 21-18. One by one the two players shook hands with the umpire, but Liang Qiaofeng refused to shake hands with his opponent because he was a superstitious fellow who believed by shaking Bagus Pramudya's hand he'd invite bad luck into his professional life. Bagus protested this unsportsmanlike behavior but the umpire told him that it was a free world and anyone can do anything, as long as they don't violate the rule of law.
Bagus Pramudya grabbed a camera, looked straight into it, and screamed. "You are looking down on me, Liang Qiaofeng. You have taken things too far. In our next meeting, I'll beat you so bad—you'll go crying back to your mom."
Instead of listening to his opponent's cry for attention, Liang Qiaofeng just walked out of the court with his kitbag.
On the other side of the world. Comments started to appear on the livestream feed
squeezybear: Sick move by the winner
luciferyawningstar: winners gonna win, losers gonna cry
xolol: guys Liang Qiaofeng was just being superstitious, he didn't mean any disrespect
squeezybear: shut up, stop making excuses for you champion you pink-sleeved stan
xolol: 🙄🙄🙄 delulu is no selulu
squeezybear: meet me in real life if you have the guts
xolol: stop acting crazy, or I'll report you to the moderator
squeezybear: no please don't do that, I'll be nice... I don't want to see ads.
xolol: what is she talking about?
luciferyawningstar: Newbie the moderators have the powers to send you to the detention zone where you have to watch ads as a punishment for violating community standards online.
xolol: I'll remember that
squeezybear: c'mon guys, let's watch football
luciferyawningstar: it takes too long, I might as well cook chicken for dinner
°°°
Immediately after winning the match, Liang Qiaofeng went home, where he himself cooked dinner in the kitchen, and the dinner was spaghetti with meatballs. And as Liang Qiaofeng was not a regular visitor of the kitchen, he undercooked the meal and as a consequence for the rest of night he tossed and turned on the bed.
On the other hand few hours after losing the match Bagus Pramudya was doing an innovative, on the run livestream, in which he jogged at regular pace and answered the questions of his fans and super desperate stans. During the livestream he claimed the reason for his loss was due to the sudden weather change in Yanjing yesterday, he was completely unprepared for that scenario, common cold got him good and as a result he played the whole match with a congested nose. While the majority agreed with Bagus Pramudya's pov, others' who were in the miniority didn't think so, so they called him an outright liar through memes but their posts immediately disappeared under the barrage of 'get well soon' , 'better luck next time' and 'you poor thing posts'.