Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the semi-finals at the Badminton World Federation’s (BWF) East Ventures Indonesia Open in Jakarta.
Tai was the only Taiwanese left at the Istora Stadium after her compatriots fell in the first or second rounds earlier in the week.
In her quarter-final against Line Kjaersfeldt of Denmark, Tai was rarely troubled as she eased to a 21-13, 21-13 victory in 37 minutes.
Photo: AFP
Kjaersfeldt drew level at 5-5 in the first game with five points in a row, but never led her Taiwanese opponent throughout the match.
Tai faces Chen Yufei in the semi-finals today after the Chinese beat Nozomi Okuhara of Japan 21-16, 21-10 yesterday.
In earlier games, Tai eliminated Yeo Jia Min of Singapore 21-14, 21-14 in the first round on Wednesday and Iris Wang of the US 15-21, 21-16, 21-9 in the second round on Thursday.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Tai, the BWF’s world No. 2 in women’s singles, said she was surprised at the number of people attending the Indonesia Open.
“I am very happy to be able to play again at Istora, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic,” Tai told Indonesia’s Kompas Online after her win against Wang. “I was quite surprised because so many spectators came.”
“When I arrived in the morning for practice, Istora was already full of people buying tickets,” she said. “It was a bit surprising that so many people were there so early.”
She also praised the hospitality of the fans, saying that she had received many gifts and birthday wishes.
Tai turns 28 on Monday.
“I got many gifts: Food, key chains and photos,” she said.
There was not so much cause for celebration among the other Taiwanese at the tournament.
In the women’s singles, Pai Yu-po lost 21-14, 21-18 against world No. 1 Okuhara in first round on Wednesday.
In the men’s singles, Chou Tien-chen beat Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn 22-20, 19-21, 21-12 in the first round on Wednesday, but lost to Lee Cheuk Yiu of Hong Kong 21-18, 21-13 in the second round on Thursday.
In the first round of the men’s doubles, Denmark pair Kim Astrup and Anders Rasmussen beat Lu Ching-yao and Yang Po-han of Taiwan 21-15, 21-16 on Tuesday, while on Wednesday, Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin beat Thailand pair Supak Jonkoh and Kittinupong Kedren 21-13, 21-15, but lost in the second round on Thursday to Pramudya Kusumawardana and Yeremia Rambitan of Indonesia 21-16, 17-21, 21-14.
The Indonesia Open, which has a total prize pool of US$1.2 million, is to finish tomorrow.
US national team star Folarin Balogun was among the scorers as AS Monaco on Friday won 3-1 at Paris Saint-Germain, dealing a blow to the side from the French capital before they face Chelsea in a crunch UEFA Champions League round-of-16 tie. Maghnes Akliouche gave Monaco a first-half lead at the Parc des Princes, and Aleksandr Golovin doubled their advantage early in the second half of the French Ligue 1 clash. Bradley Barcola pulled one back for the reigning European champions, but Balogun struck shortly after with a fifth goal in his last five games as Monaco claimed a precious
West Ham United on Monday advanced to the FA Cup quarter-finals with a 5-3 penalty shoot-out win against Brentford, who paid the price for Dango Ouattara’s spot-kick blunder. Nuno Espirito Santo’s side twice blew the lead as Jarrod Bowen’s double was canceled out by an Igor Thiago brace to force extra-time in the 2-2 draw at the London Stadium, but in the shoot-out, Brentford winger Ouattara attempted a chipped Panenka penalty, but his woeful effort was straight at West Ham goalkeeper Alphonse Areola. It was an awful mistake by the Burkina Faso international and West Ham took full advantage. Bowen, Valentin Castellanos, Callum
Teenage star Lamine Yamal’s superbly-taken goal on Saturday earned Barcelona a 1-0 win at Athletic Bilbao in Spanish La Liga. The champions restored their four-point lead over second-placed Real Madrid, who had on Friday temporarily closed the gap by beating Celta Vigo. Atletico Madrid tightened their grip on third with an entertaining 3-2 win over Real Sociedad. Yamal, 18, curled into the top corner after 68 minutes to split the sides at Athletic’s San Mames stadium. “We’re already seeing what Lamine can do — he puts it right in the top corner, and there’s nothing the keeper can do,” Barca
Thanks to Italy beating Mexico on Wednesday, the US get another chance in the World Baseball Classic (WBC). What looked like a potentially disastrous early exit for US manager Mark DeRosa and his team turned out to be nothing more than substantial worry and significant embarrassment for about 24 hours. It remains to be seen whether the US really want to win badly enough for the reprieve to matter, as if it is just a switch they can flick, but there is little reason for their fans to be optimistic. The team’s attitude and behavior have been all over the place when
RSS