The Victor Thruster Ryuga is the original Ryuga, the head-heavy attacking racket that launched one of Victor's most popular Thruster lines. It is famously associated with Malaysia's Lee Zii Jia, who used it on his way to the 2021 All England men's singles title.
Released in 2020, the Ryuga uses a new HME hybrid material and a box-section frame to boost stiffness, power delivery and resistance to twisting, all wrapped in an asymmetric flame-red graffiti design.
HME Material — A hybrid material woven from carbon fibres of multiple moduli, used to strengthen stiffness and improve power transfer on attacking shots.
Anti-Torsion Enhancement — The frame and shaft are reinforced against twisting, so more of the swing's energy goes into the shuttle on aggressive strokes.
Power Box Frame — A box-shaped frame cross-section that increases stability and torsional resistance and allows for higher string tensions.
PYROFIL — A high-performance Japanese carbon fibre composite that keeps the racket light while adding shock absorption and a more controlled feel.
Hard Cored Technology — A multi-layered carbon fibre and composite structure, inspired by military helicopter blades, that reinforces the frame for a solid, precise feel.
Single-Pass Grommet Construction — Each string passes through its own grommet hole, reducing friction between strings so tension holds longer and strings last longer.
The Thruster Ryuga is made for attackers. Its head-heavy balance and stiff shaft make it easy to generate steep smashes and deep clears, while the box frame keeps the head stable on full swings. It suits aggressive singles players and rear-court doubles players with solid technique; players who prefer quick exchanges at the net may find a head-light racket more manoeuvrable.
Best for: Power-oriented singles players, rear-court doubles attackers, and advanced players who like a head-heavy feel.
The Ruyga is a fun racket to play with. It's definitely an attacking racket as its head heaviness lets you clear, lift out, and smash with ease. Coach Ching found that it allowed for a pretty good attacking angle (likely thanks to the WES) and with his play style, he noticed really good backcourt accuracy and play in drops, cross courts, and backhand slices all being very accurate. The accuracy of the racket surprised him though it certainly has that Victor "ping" feedback when you mishit a shot so keep that in mind if that is something you are sensitive to (as mentioned before, this isn't a bad thing, it's just different from Yonex rackets). Smashes were strong but not quite as strong for Coach Ching as with the Thruster Falcon. Coach Ching thinks this is due to his swing and play style. He tends to smash harder with increased racket speed (faster rackets) vs head heaviness.
We're guessing a lot of people will want to know the difference between the Ryuga and the Falcon. To Coach Ching, the main difference is head heaviness. You can definitely feel the difference. While the Ryuga is rated moderately stiff which is the same as the Falcon, while playing, the head heaviness makes the Ryuga feel more flexible/whippy. To a lot of intermediate/advanced power/singles players, this will be a great racket with surprising accuracy. For those of us who play a more speed-oriented game, you may want to try the Bravesword or Auraspeed series.
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