Tai Tzu-ying yesterday bowed out in the semi-finals at badminton’s French Open after her South Korean opponent avenged a dramatic loss last year against the Taiwanese shuttler.
An Se-young defeated Tai 21-12, 17-21, 22-20 at the Arena Porte de la Chapelle in Paris, overcoming a seven-point deficit in the final game in a reversal of fortunes from their semi-final clash at the BWF Badminton World Tour in Hangzhou, China.
The pair also clashed in the final at the Malaysia Open in January, with An the winner in another closely fought three-game match.
Photo courtesy of Badminton Photo
In game 1 yesterday, An showcased her ability to put together strings of winners as she blew open a tight contest at 12-12 with eight unanswered points to make it 1-0.
Tai took game 2 without conceding the lead and put herself in a commanding position to advance to another final as she prepares to retire from the sport.
She was ahead 18-11 and poised to face Akane Yamaguchi in today’s final after the Japanese beat Chen Yufei of China 21-15, 18-21, 22-20 in the second semi.
However, just as Tai had stormed back from 18-9 down in game 3 in Hangzhou in December last year, An showed that she, too, has the ability to turn seemingly hopeless situations around.
She scored five consecutive points before Tai added two to make it 20-16 and earn herself four match points, but the Taiwanese could not convert any of them as An swept past her with a run of six points.
Tai reached the semis at the US$850,000 tournament with a strong performance in her quarter-final against Aya Ohori of Japan on Friday, clinching a 21-17, 21-10 victory in 38 minutes.
“I just tried to play it my way and avoid making mistakes, which I didn’t do well in game 1,” Tai told reporters after the match.
In the men’s singles, Taiwan’s Wang Tzu-wei lost to Thailand’s world No. 8 Kunlavut Vitidsarn.
Despite sweeping world No. 1 Viktor Axelsen in two games on Thursday, Wang, the world No. 27, failed to fire, losing 21-18, 21-16 in 51 minutes.
In the men’s doubles, Lee Jhe-huei and Yang Po-hsuan were to play Japanese pair Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi in the semi-finals after press time last night.
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
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 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
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
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