Taiwanese badminton ace Tai Tzu-ying yesterday dominated China’s Chen Yufei to win her first India Open title, which is also her first of the year.
In a speedy 42 minutes, the world No. 3 pounced on world No. 2 Chen, winning straight sets 21-16, 21-12 in their women’s singles final in New Delhi.
It was Tai’s second victory over Chen this year, after surviving the Chinese shuttler 17-21, 21-15, 21-18 in their semi-final at the Malaysia Open on Jan. 13. Tai has now beaten Chen in 19 of their 27 matches dating back to 2017.
Photo: EPA-EFE
On Saturday, Tai rocked Singapore’s Yeo Jia-min 21-13, 21-18, to ease into her third straight final.
On Friday, Tai was denied a chance at another showdown with longtime rival world No. 1 An Se-young, who retired during her match against Yeo, after the South Korean sustained a knee injury.
Tai’s recent surge began when she won the BWF World Tour Finals last month and finished second at the Malaysia Open.
Photo: EPA-EFE
In the 29-year-old Taiwanese veteran’s first final appearance of the year in Kuala Lumpur, she lost to An 10-21, 21-10, 21-18, but Tai’s performance in the Super 1000 tournament was enough to edge her up to the world No. 3 position.
Meanwhile, Taiwanese mixed-doubles pair Ye Hong-wei and Lee Chia-hsin on Saturday lost their semi-final match in New Delhi to Thailand’s Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai 21-18, 15-21, 19-21.
The India Open is a Super 750 event, the second-highest-tiered tournaments on the professional badminton tour after Super 1000s.
In May last year, Ye and Lee reached the mixed doubles semi-finals in a Super 500 event, the Toyota Gazoo Racing Thailand Open.
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