Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying on Sunday clinched her third women’s singles title at the Yonex All England Open Badminton Championships in Birmingham.
The world No. 2 triumphed over top seed, world No. 1 and defending champion Chen Yufei of China 21-19, 21-15 in a final that lasted 44 minutes.
The win secured the 25-year-old Kaoshiung native her third title at the event, making her the first Taiwanese to claim the treble.
Photo: AFP
Tai won the tournament in 2017 and 2018, before losing to Chen in the final last year.
Tai fell to a 2-6 deficit before scoring four straight points to level the first game.
Known for her unpredictable and versatile play, Tai sent the shuttle flying around the court with disguised drops to keep Chen, who had been returning well, away from the net, as she narrowly won the first game 21-19.
Photo: Reuters
The scores were again neck-and-neck in the second game as Chen held on, waiting for Tai to make mistakes, but after the score reached 10-10, Tai found another gear, winning 10 of the next 15 points and reaching match point at 20-15.
A return by Chen then fell wide, securing Tai her third All England Open title.
The victory improved Tai’s head-to-head record against Chen to 15-3.
The two last faced off in the final of the Perodua Malaysia Masters in January, where Tai suffered a straight-games defeat.
Tai said that she was very excited to reclaim the All England Open title and was familiar with Chen’s style because the two have played each other so many times.
“She [Chen] has always been a consistent player, whereas I tend to make relatively more errors. Playing against her gives me pressure, but luckily today I was able to control the rallies,” Tai said.
Tai also thanked the fans in English for their support, saying how happy she was to play in England.
Earlier in the men’s singles final, Taiwanese top seed Chou Tien-chen was defeated by Viktor Axelsen of Denmark.
The world No. 2 fell to second seed and world No. 7 Axelsen 21-13, 21-14 in a match that lasted 46 minutes.
Chou began too passively, allowing Axelson to gain points quickly early on.
The Dane capitalized on aggressive attacks by getting close to the net, gaining control and then releasing a series of smashes at the body.
Chou’s frustration built toward the end of the second game as the match turned into one-way traffic, with the Taiwanese unable to find answers to Axelson’s superb form.
“You know getting a good start is pretty important, especially in the final,” Axelson said.
Chou said that he had been below his best.
“I tried to put in a better performance, but I wasn’t able to control the rallies as well as Viktor was able to,” Chou said. “I didn’t play to my 100 percent, and I didn’t expect that, but that’s the way it is.”
Despite the loss, Chou was the first Taiwanese to reach the men’s singles final in the history of the tournament, while Axelson ended a 21-year wait for a Dane to claim the title since Peter Gade in 1999.
Additional reporting by AFP
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