Badminton star Tai Tzu-ying becomes world No. 1 with HK Open victory

2016/11/29

Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying clinched the women’s singles badminton title at the 2016 Yonex-Sunrise Hong Kong Open Badminton Championships Nov. 27 by defeating India’s Pusarla V. Sindhu, securing her place as the No. 1 player in the world under the Badminton World Federation.

Over the course of 41 minutes, the 22-year-old Tai brought down her opponent 21:15, 21:17 and won the grand prize of US$400,000. Her victory was made even sweeter by the fact that earlier in the year at the 2016 Rio Olympics, Tai had been defeated by Sindhu, who went on to claim a silver medal.

Tai’s family and friends back home watched her finals match on live TV and tearfully cheered when she scored the match-winning point. The following day, Tai returned to Taiwan, where her family welcomed her with flowers and applause at Kaohsiung International Airport.

This is the second time Tai has won the Hong Kong Open. She first claimed the title in 2014 after defeating Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara 21:19, 21:11. This year’s competition was held Nov. 22-27 in the city’s Hung Hom District.

Ranked world No. 3 last week with 74,491 points, Tai’s triumph in Hong Kong boosted her to the top spot, which had previously been held by Olympic champion Carolina Marin of Spain.

Tai first made a name for herself in 2011 after becoming the youngest top-ranked player in Taiwan at the age of 16. At the 2014 Asian Games, she earned a third-place finish. Later that year, she became the first Taiwan player to win the women’s singles event at the Badminton World Federation’s Destination Dubai World Superseries.

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=249776&ctNode=2194&mp=9)