CHENNAI: Three years ago, Tai Tzu Ying was on a golden run, racking up wins for fun. She was near-flawless with her masterful strokes. Entering the World Championships, she was expected to keep up the hot streak and enter the medal rounds.
After getting the better of Beiwin Zhang in the third round, breaking the record of the longest winning streak (31 consecutive wins) in the process, she was just one hit away from securing a medal at the marquee event. However, He Bing Jiao, her quarterfinals opponent, had other ideas. Having lost just to the World No 1 just a month back in the Malaysia Open decider, Jiao chose a bigger stage to extract revenge.
Next year in Basel, Tai Tzu had faltered at the same stage, losing to India’s PV Sindhu who went on to claim a historic gold medal.
On Friday, Tai Tzu turned the tables on Sindhu, thereby finally adding her first World Championships medal in her decorated trophy cabinet. Having broken the jinx, she was in action against Jiao in the semifinals in Huelva (Spain) on Saturday. Playing with a free mind, the determined Tai Tzu showed her fighting spirit to knock out Jiao in three games (21-17, 13-21, 21-14).
“The most important thing for me is to overcome my own limits, to try my best in every match. And when my fans support me, that will motivate me to reach higher,” Tai had said after her win against Sindhu.
Having gone higher than ever before in her career, now Tai Tzu has the chance to claim the top prize. The Tokyo Olympics silver medallist will be up against familiar rival Akane Yamaguchi. Yamaguchi beat Zhang Yi Man of China 21-19, 21-19 in the next match.
The No 2 seed from Japan could prove to be a stern test for Tai Tzu. In their last meeting in 2019, Yamaguchi had trumped the Chinese Taipei shuttler in straight games. With most top-ranked shuttlers, the stats show that Tai Tzu has been clearly dominating. But in the case of Yamaguchi, it is close (Tai Tzu leads 10-7 in head-to-head record). That only suggests that the final on Sunday is likely to be a close tussle between modern marvels in women’s badminton.
Results (semifinals)
Women’s singles
Tai Tzu Ying (TPEx1) bt He Bing Jiao (CHNx8) 21-17, 13-21, 21-14; A Yamaguchi (JPNx2) bt Z Yi Man (CHN) 21-19, 21-19.
Mansi and Aditi enter main draw
Budding star Mansi Singh was one of the shuttlers to book a spot in the main draw of the ongoing BAI series senior tournament in Chennai. The UP girl beat Divya 15-5, 15-7 on Saturday. Telangana's Meghana Reddy M also entered the main draw with a 15-7, 15-7 win over Jerlin Anika J. Tasnim Mir and Aditi Bhatt were other talented shuttlers who reached the business end of the event.