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.
Taiwan kept their hopes of advancing to next year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Saturday, backed by solid pitching. Taiwan last night played against Nicaragua. As of press time, Nicaragua was leading 6-0. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan on Saturday kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen struck out one and allowed no hits, except for a hit-by-pitch over
Team Taiwan are set to face Spain in a win-or-go-home match tonight for the final berth at the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC), despite losing to Nicaragua 6-0 in the WBC qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Sunday. The home team’s loss on Sunday means Nicaragua finish first in the qualifier round in Taipei with a perfect 3-0 record and advances to next year’s finals. After crushing South Africa 9-1 earlier on Sunday, Spain took second place in the four-team qualifier with a 2-1 record. With a 1-2 record, Taiwan finished third while South Africa placed at the bottom with
Taiwan kept its hopes of advancing to the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome last night, backed by solid pitching. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. The win was crucial for Taiwan, as a loss would have eliminated the team from contention for the next WBC. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen (沙子宸) struck out one and allowed no hits, except for
Team Taiwan avoided missing the World Baseball Classic (WBC) for the first time by defeating Spain 6-3 in a do-or-die game in Taipei last night. After narrowly escaping a mercy-rule loss to Spain in the WBC Qualifiers opener on Friday last week, the home team — winner of last year's WBSC Premier12 title three months ago — got their revenge against the 2023 European champions at Taipei Dome. "It felt quite different from when we won the Premier12," Taiwan captain Chen Chieh-hsien (陳傑憲) said after the game, recalling the ups and downs the team has experienced over the past few days. Unlike in
RSS