Olympic silver medalist Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the final of the women’s singles at the BWF World Championships in Spain after edging out world No. 9 He Bingjiao of China.
The top-seeded Tai, ranked world No. 1, outlasted the eighth-seeded He 21-17, 13-21, 21-14 in a semi-final match that lasted 57 minutes, leaving her one away from her first world title.
In her six previous World Championships appearances, Tai had never made it further than the quarter-finals, losing in that round five times in a row, including to He in 2018.
Photo: AP
The 27-year-old Taiwanese had also never advanced further than the round of 16 at an Olympics before winning silver in Tokyo earlier this year.
She is today to play second-seed Akane Yamaguchi of Japan for the world title. Yamaguchi yesterday beat world No. 46 Zhang Yiman of China 21-19, 21-19.
In the semi-finals, Tai improved her career record against He to 9-2, but was challenged more than she had been in her previous matches at the World Championships, her first tournament since the Summer Games.
Tai scored the first five points of the opening game, but He responded with eight straight points, and despite some clinical displays by Tai, He remained narrowly ahead at the game’s midpoint, 11-10.
Tai rallied after a short break to take a 15-12 lead and never looked back.
He raised the bar in the second game, launching a series of laser-like smashes, while retrieving everything Tai threw at her. He also took advantage of several unforced errors by Tai, to comfortably win the second game.
The rubber game remained tight at the start, with He gaining a 6-5 lead, but Tai ran off the next eight points, including a few glorious shots that wrong-footed He, to go up 13-6, and the Chinese veteran never got closer than three points after that.
A victory at the World Championships would culminate an excellent year for Tai. Beyond her Olympic silver medal, she also powered her way into the finals of three tournaments in Bangkok in January, before clinching the HSBC BWF World Tour Finals the same month.
Earlier this month, Tai was named the BWF Female Player of the Year.
In the men’s doubles on Friday, Olympic gold medalists Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin of Taiwan exited after falling to ninth-seeded Ong Yew Sin and Teo Ee Yi of Malaysia 21-12, 17-21, 15-21.
Seeded third in the tournament, Lee and Wang lost to the Malaysians for the first time in their career against three previous wins, as they were unable to maintain a consistently high level of play during the 65-minute match at the Palacio de los Deportes Carolina Marin.
The Taiwanese came out on the attack in the first game to give themselves a narrow 14-12 lead, abut that momentum did not carry over, as Ong and Teo regained their composure and the Taiwanese never recovered.
For Wang and Lee, it was another disappointing finish after their performance in Tokyo. The duo has yet to win since then, finishing no better than third at the HSBC BWF World Tour Finals earlier this month.
They were also named by the BWF as the most improved players of the Year on Dec. 3.
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