Tai Tzu-ying


Tai Tzu-ying is a Taiwanese professional badminton player. At the age of 22, she became world No. 1 in the women's singles on December 2016, and holds the record for most weeks ranked at the top in BWF history with 148 weeks.
Tai was the women's singles gold medalists in 2018 Asian Games and 2017 Summer Universiade. She won back-to-back Asian Championships titles, the year end tournament Superseries Finals, and the oldest tournament All England Open.

Career

Tai career began when she was in elementary school, affected by his father who was a firefighter and the director of Kaohsiung city's badminton committee. Tai started playing badminton at the fourth or fifth grader in elementary school, and at the sixth grade, she played at the National ranking tournament, won the title in the second division, earning the right to participate in the first division games. Furthermore, she was the youngest player to compete in the first division.

2007–2010: Early international career

Tai made her debut in the international tournament in 2007 Vietnam International. In 2009, she won the silver medal at the Asian Junior Championships, lost the final match to Chen Xiaojia in straight games. She represented Kaohsiung City in the National Games and went into the quarter-finals. Young Tai began to show her potential when she was 15 years old, able to compete at senior level and become runner-up at the Vietnam Open a Grand Prix tournament. In December, Tai competed at the East Asian Games for Chinese Taipei and won a bronze medal in the women's singles and helped the team reaching the final, settled for a silver.
In 2010, she entered the big stage by competing in the Superseries event in Korea Open. In April, she participated at the World Junior Championships in Mexico, but had to retired in the quarter-finals of 9–16 places due to injury. In June, she experienced the most memorable thing during her career as a badminton player, where she reached her first Superseries finals at her birthday in Singapore Open. She started in the qualifying draw and went on to reach the final, which she lost to Saina Nehwal in straight games.

2011–2013: First Grand Prix and Superseries title

In 2011, Tai made good progress by defeating the top ranked player. She defeated Zhu Lin in the first round of Australian Open, Wang Xin in the first round of Indonesia Open, and in July, she beat former World Champion Lu Lan in the quarter-finals of U.S. Open a Grand Prix Gold tournament, and beat World Junior silver medalists Sayaka Sato in the final, which became the first international title she won at the age of 17. She also reached in to the semi-finals of Canada, Vietnam, and French Open, where in France, she defeat China's number 1 Wang Shixian in the quarter-finals.
In the early half of 2012 season, her best achievements was the semi-finalists in All England Open, and was ranked as world number 16. Tai represented her country as the second women's singles behind Cheng Shao-chieh at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. The 18 years old, currently ranked 13th in the world and seeded 10th won all matches in the group stage defeating Anu Nieminen of Finland and Victoria Montero of Mexico. Her pace at the Olympics stopped by the eventual gold medalists from China Li Xuerui in the round of 16. In September, she claimed her first Superseries title in the Japan Open and made history as the youngest player to win the Superseries title. She was expected may be nearing the upper echelons and future of the women's game, by her victory in Japan and increasingly impressive performances by significant wins over some of the top players. In October, she won the Chinese Taipei Open against Lindaweni Fanetri in a close rubber games 21–19, 20–22, 22–20. In November, she competed as the top seeded at the World Junior Championships in Chiba, Japan, but felt down in the quarter-finals to Sun Yu.
In August 2013, she was recruited by the team Banga Beats to play for them in the Indian Badminton League. In the 2013 BWF Super Series Masters Finals, she defeated Sung Ji-hyun and Porntip Buranaprasertsuk but lost to Wang Shixian. She made it into the semifinals and successfully avenged her loss, beating Wang Shixian. She ended second after losing the final to Li Xuerui.

2014–2015: Asian bronzes and Superseries Finals title

Tai represented her country at the 2014 Asian Games and won Chinese Taipei's first badminton medal by placing third. She won the Hong Kong Open in 2014 after beating Nozomi Okuhara of Japan in straight sets, 21–19, 21–11. She extended her winning streak to the Superseries Finals in Dubai and won the first title for Chinese Taipei in the Superseries finals by beating Sung Ji-hyun in straight sets.
In 2015, she was beaten by Sun Yu in the Singapore Open. She did not win any title that year.

2016: World #1

In 2016, Tai won the Indonesia Open and the Hong Kong Open to reach World No. 1 for the first time in her career. She won the Superseries Finals in Dubai for the second time, becoming the second women's singles player to do so. She also made history by becoming the first women's singles player to reach the finals in the Superseries Finals three times.

2017: Asian champion and fifth straight Superseries title

Before the 2017 season started, Tai announced that she would skip that year's World Championships in Glasgow. Tai decided to attend the 2017 Summer Universiade not only out of a desire to earn a title for her home country but also for the bigger picture. Since the Summer Universiade was by far the biggest sporting event held in her home country, only second to the Olympic Games, Tai wanted to welcome the world to see Taiwan. President Tsai commended Tai's decision. She won the Special Contribution Award in 2017 Sports Elite Awards.
Tai won her first All England Open title in March 2017, beating Ratchanok Intanon in the finals. In April, Tai won the Malaysia Open as well as the Singapore Open beating Carolina Marín in the finals two times in two weeks. Her titles in Malaysia and Singapore were her fourth and fifth consecutive ones. Later in April, she won her another title against Akane Yamaguchi in the Asian Championships held in Wuhan, China, marking a sixth consecutive title. It was also the first gold medal for Taiwan in this competition.
After winning 3 matches in the 2017 Sudirman Cup, Tai had extended her winning streak to 27 matches, before losing to Nitchaon Jindapol in the quarterfinals.

2018–2019: Asian Games gold, second All England and Asian Champions

In 2018, Tai starting the season participated in the Malaysian Master in which she defeated Chen Yufei in the quarter final and Carolina Marín in a thrilling semi final, coming from a game down, but lost to Ratchanok Intanon in final. A week later, at the Indonesian Master, she won the title after defeating Saina Nehwal of India.
Due to tournament rescheduling, Tai could not defend her 2017 Singapore Open title and lost the world number 1 ranking to Japan's Akane Yamaguchi. But in her next tournament, the Asian Championships, she won the title after defeating Chen Yufei in the final in Wuhan and regained her world no 1 ranking.
In the 2018 BWF World Championship's third round, she defeated Zhang Beiwen from the United States in straight games and broke the record of the longest winning streak with 31 consecutive matches won, while the former record of 30 wins was held by Li Xuerui from China. However, she then lost in the next round to China's He Bingjiao 18–21, 21–7, 13–21.
In the 2018 Asian Games, held in Jakarta, she won the gold medal by beating P. V. Sindhu in a straight set in the final, became her first big title in her career. After crowning the women's singles' title of 2018 Denmark Open, her ranking points will coming to 101,517. She becomes the second player in the women's singles category to break 100,000 points, whose the first is Li Xuerui from China, led the points by 101,644. Although she lost the final game of 2018 French Open, she still won 9,350 points, by deleted the 2017 French Open 9,200 points, her points comes to 101,667 eventually, becomes the highest points holder in the women's singles category history. Tai qualified to compete at the World Tour Finals and placed as the top seeds. In the group stage, she was placed in Group A along with Akane Yamaguchi, P. V. Sindhu and Beiwen Zhang. In her first match, she defeated Zhang 21–15, 21–17; lost to Sindhu 21–14, 16–21, 18–21. However, she retired with an injury in her third group stage match against Yamaguchi after losing the first game 17–21 and trailing 12–11 in the second game. Tai did not reveal the nature of the injury or how it occurred.
In 2019, she reached the quarterfinal stage of Malaysia Masters, losing to the same opponent of last year and arch-rival Ratchanok Intanon in straight games. In March, she advanced to the final of All England Open for the third straight time, however she unexpectedly lost to the Chinese Chen Yufei, after 11 straight victories over her. She came back and claimed back to back titles at Malaysia Open and Singapore Open; beating Japanese Akane Yamaguchi and Nozomi Okuhara respectively in finals in two straight games. In July, she was unable to defend her title at the Indonesia Open, after defeated in the semi-finals to Akane Yamaguchi. Her Jinx at World Championships continued further after she lost to P. V. Sindhu of India in the quarter-finals in 3 games 21–12, 21–23, 19–21. This was her 5th Straight quarterfinal loss at the World Championships.
She reached final of the China Open, where she lost to insurgent Carolina Marín in three games. She reached semi-finals of Korea Open. She claimed her third title of the year at the Denmark Open further defending her title there. She beat Nozomi Okuhara in straight games.
She continued her good form and reached semi-finals of French Open and Fuzhou China Open. She competed at the World Tour Finals. In the group stage, she beat Ratchanok Intanon and Busanan Ongbamrungphan, and assured herself of semifinal spot. She avenged her loss in Group Stage to Nozomi Okuhara in semi-final and reached the finals after 3 years. Despite a good performance, she couldn't stand right against Chen Yufei and lost the Final with 21-12, 12-21, 17-21 scoreline.

2020: Third All England title

Tai commenced the year by competing at the Malaysia Masters as the first seed. She finished as runner-up after losing to Chen Yufei in two straight games. In her fourth straight All England Open finals this year, she won the coveted title for the third time, thereby becoming only third female player after Xie Xingfang and Tine Baun to clinch three titles by contesting 4 finals at this tournament. In the final, she beat Chen Yufei with the score of 21–19, 21–15, with this, she avenged her last year defeat to Chen at this stage.

Playing style

Tai plays an offensive game, with many calling her style unpredictable and often spontaneous. She is a very adventurous player with a disguised nature of shots, seemingly able to hit the shuttle from just about anywhere with a great range of shots and angles. Also remarkable is her very relaxed hitting action.
She has a strong backhand and good net-play, while her biggest fault is being inconsistent at times. Tai also has strong stamina, being muscular with a six-pack.
Tai herself said that she does not follow a certain play or style, and focuses on herself rather than her opponent or any strategies. Tai has clocked fast smashes, with one of the fastest recorded being 360 km/h at the 2016 All England Open quarterfinals, despite her preference of playing slowly to set up shots.
Tai's prodigious talent and deceptive shot-making has earned compliments of many, including BWF commentator Gillian Clark, who often compliments her talented shot-making and has said that Tai is one of the best players to watch in women's singles.

Achievements

Asian Games

Women's singles
YearVenueOpponentScoreResult
2018Istora Gelora Bung Karno, Jakarta, Indonesia P. V. Sindhu21–13, 21–16 Gold
2014Gyeyang Gymnasium, Incheon, South Korea Li Xuerui16–21, 26–24, 8–21 Bronze

Asian Championships

Women's singles
YearVenueOpponentScoreResult
2018Wuhan Sports Center Gymnasium, Wuhan, China Chen Yufei21–19, 22–20 Gold
2017Wuhan Sports Center Gymnasium, Wuhan, China Akane Yamaguchi18–21, 21–11, 21–18 Gold
2015Wuhan Sports Center Gymnasium, Wuhan, China Ratchanok Intanon22–20, 9–21, 12–21 Bronze

East Asian Games

Women's singles
YearVenueOpponentScoreResult
2009Queen Elizabeth Stadium, Hong Kong Yip Pui Yin17–21, 21–17, 19–21 Bronze

Summer Universiade

Women's singles
YearVenueOpponentScoreResult
2017Taipei Gymnasium, Taipei, Taiwan Lee Jang-mi21–9, 21–13 Gold
2015Hwasun Hanium Culture Sports Center, Hwasun, South Korea Porntip Buranaprasertsuk12–21, 14–21 Bronze
2013Tennis Academy, Kazan, Russia Sung Ji-hyun16–21, 27–29 Silver

World University Championships

Women's singles
YearVenueOpponentScoreResult
2012Yeomju Gymnasium and Bitgoeul Gymnasium, Gwangju, South Korea Pai Hsiao-ma21–13 Retired Gold

Women's doubles
YearVenuePartnerOpponentScoreResult
2012Yeomju Gymnasium and Bitgoeul Gymnasium,
Gwangju, South Korea		 Pai Hsiao-ma Miri Ichimaru
Shiho Tanaka		20–22, 11–21 Silver

Asian Junior Championships

Girls' singles
YearVenueOpponentScoreResult
2009Stadium Juara, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Chen Xiaojia13–21, 13–21 Silver

BWF World Tour (10 titles, 6 runners-up)

The BWF World Tour, announced on 19 March 2017 and implemented in 2018, is a series of elite badminton tournaments, sanctioned by Badminton World Federation. The BWF World Tour are divided into six levels, namely World Tour Finals, Super 1000, Super 750, Super 500, Super 300, and the BWF Tour Super 100.
Women's singles
YearTournamentLevelOpponentScoreResult
2020All England OpenSuper 1000 Chen Yufei21–19, 21–15 Winner
2020Malaysia MastersSuper 500 Chen Yufei17–21, 10–21 Runner-up
2019BWF World Tour FinalsWorld Tour Finals Chen Yufei21–12, 12–21, 17–21 Runner-up
2019Denmark OpenSuper 750 Nozomi Okuhara21–17, 21–14 Winner
2019China OpenSuper 1000 Carolina Marín21–14, 17–21, 18–21 Runner-up
2019Singapore OpenSuper 500 Nozomi Okuhara21–19, 21–15 Winner
2019Malaysia OpenSuper 750 Akane Yamaguchi21–16, 21–19 Winner
2019All England OpenSuper 1000 Chen Yufei17–21, 17–21 Runner-up
2018French OpenSuper 750 Akane Yamaguchi20–22, 21–17, 13–21 Runner-up
2018Denmark OpenSuper 750 Saina Nehwal21–13, 13–21, 21–6 Winner
2018Chinese Taipei OpenSuper 300 Line Kjærsfeldt17–21, 21–10, 21–13 Winner
2018Indonesia OpenSuper 1000 Chen Yufei21–23, 21–15, 21–9 Winner
2018Malaysia OpenSuper 750 He Bingjiao22–20, 21–11 Winner
2018All England OpenSuper 1000 Akane Yamaguchi22–20, 21–13 Winner
2018Indonesia MastersSuper 500 Saina Nehwal21–9, 21–13 Winner
2018Malaysia MastersSuper 500 Ratchanok Intanon16–21, 21–14, 22–24 Runner-up

BWF Superseries (12 titles, 6 runners-up)

Women's singles
YearTournamentOpponentScoreResult
2017Hong Kong Open P. V. Sindhu21–18, 21–18 Winner
2017French Open Akane Yamaguchi21–4, 21–16 Winner
2017Singapore Open Carolina Marín21–15, 21–15 Winner
2017Malaysia Open Carolina Marín23–25, 22–20, 21–13 Winner
2017All England Open Ratchanok Intanon21–16, 22–20 Winner
2016BWF Super Series Finals Sung Ji-hyun21–14, 21–13 Winner
2016Hong Kong Open P. V. Sindhu21–15, 21–17 Winner
2016Denmark Open Akane Yamaguchi21–19, 14–21, 12–21 Runner-up
2016Indonesia Open Wang Yihan21–17, 21–8 Winner
2016Malaysia Open Ratchanok Intanon14–21, 15–21 Runner-up
2015Singapore Open Sun Yu13–21, 21–19, 20–22 Runner-up
2014BWF Super Series Finals Sung Ji-hyun21–17, 21–12 Winner
2014Hong Kong Open Nozomi Okuhara21–19, 21–11 Winner
2014Japan Open Li Xuerui16–21, 6–21 Runner-up
2013BWF Super Series Finals Li Xuerui8–21, 14–21 Runner-up
2013Malaysia Open Yao Xue21–17, 21–14 Winner
2012Japan Open Eriko Hirose9–21, 21–9, 21–14 Winner
2010Singapore Open Saina Nehwal18–21, 15–21 Runner-up

BWF Grand Prix (3 titles, 2 runners-up)

Women's singles
YearTournamentOpponentScoreResult
2016Chinese Taipei Open Wang Shixian23–21, 21–6 Winner
2013Chinese Taipei Open Sung Ji-hyun16–21, 9–21 Runner-up
2012Chinese Taipei Open Lindaweni Fanetri21–19, 20–22, 22–20 Winner
2011U.S. Open Sayaka Sato21–16, 19–21, 21–6 Winner
2009Vietnam Open Fransisca Ratnasari19–21, 21–15, 13–21 Runner-up

Invitation tournament

Mixed doubles
YearTournamentPartnerOpponentScoreResult
2017Jeunesse Cup International All Star Wang Tzu-wei Mads Conrad-Petersen
Line Kjærsfeldt		18–21, 20–22 Runner-up

Career overview

Record against selected opponents

Record against year-end Finals finalists, World Championships semi-finalists, and Olympic quarter-finalists. Accurate as of 15 March 2020.

Sponsorships

Yonex controversy

During the period of 2016 Summer Olympics, Yonex provided unfit shoes to non-contract Tai. This forced Tai to wear other shoes made by her personal sponsor brand, Victor, without any logo. This event caused a controversy with the Chinese Taipei Badminton Association.

Note