Tai Tzu-ying

Tai Tzu-ying 戴資穎
Tai Tzu-ying at the 2016 Chinese Taipei Open
Personal information
Country	Republic of China (Taiwan)
Born	(1994-06-20) 20 June 1994 Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Height	1.62 m (5 ft 4 in)
Weight	57 kg (126 lb; 9.0 st)
Years active	Since 2009
Handedness	Right
Coach	Jiang-Chen Lai
Women's Singles
Highest ranking	1 (December 1, 2016)
Current ranking	1 (August 1, 2017)
Medal record Representing  Chinese Taipei Women's Badminton Asian Games 2014 Incheon Women's singles Asian Championships 2017 Wuhan Women's singles 2015 Wuhan Women's singles East Asian Games 2013 Tianjin Women's team 2009 Hong Kong Women's team 2009 Hong Kong Women's singles
BWF profile

Tai Tzu-ying (Chinese: 戴資穎; pinyin: Dài Zīyǐng; Wade–Giles: Tai Tzu-ying; born on 20 June 1994) is a badminton player from Taiwan.^[1] In 2011, she won the title of Taiwanese ranking competition when she was only 16 years and 6 months old, becoming the youngest No. 1 in Taiwan badminton history. She became world No. 1 in women's singles in December 2016, and has ranked No. 1 for 29 continuous weeks since then.

Tai was the finalist at the 2010 Singapore Super Series. She won her first international title at the 2011 US Open Grand Prix Gold at the age of 17.^[2] She won her biggest titles at the Superseries Finals in 2014 and 2016, and won the Superseries Premiere event, Indonesia Open in 2016. She won six consecutive titles spanning 2016 and 2017, and has a 27-match winning streak since losing to Sung Ji-Hyun at the Superseries Finals. She also won the Hong Kong Super Series twice, in 2014 and 2016.

Career

Tai’s father is a firefighter and the director of Kaohsiung city’s badminton committee. His favorite activity in spare time is playing badminton. Tai started playing badminton as third grader in elementary school. She won the title in the nationwide second division game, and got the access to participate in the first division games. Furthermore, she was the youngest player to compete in the first division.

In 2009, Tai, aged 15, began to compete in international games. She was the runner-up in her first game, Vietnam Open. In July, she represented Kaohsiung City to play in the National Games and went into the quarter final. In the same month, she signed up for Asian Youth Badminton Tournament in Malaysia and became the runner-up. In December, Tai competed at the East Asian Games for Chinese Taipei and won one silver and one bronze medal.

In 2012, she won her first ever Super Series title in Japan Open and made a history as the youngest player who won Super Series title (Currently the third youngest player, after Ratchanok Intanon won the India Open in 2013, and Akane Yamaguchi won the Japan Open 2013).

She won the Yonex Chinese Taipei Open 2012 against Lindaweni Fanetri, but failed to defend her title in 2013, losing to Sung Ji-hyun 21–16, 21–9.

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.

Tai represented her country at the 2014 Asian Games and won Chinese Taipei's first badminton medal by placing third.^[3] She won the Hong Kong Open in 2014 after winning Nozomi Okuhara of Japan in straight sets, 21–19, 21–11. She kept her winning streak to the Super Series Finals in Dubai and won the first gold medal for Chinese Taipei in the Super Series finals by beating Sung Ji-hyun in straight sets.

In 2015, she was beaten by Sun Yu in Singapore Open. She did not win any title this year.

In 2016, Tai won the Indonesia Super Series and the Hong Kong Super Series to reach World No.1 for the first time in her career. She won the Super Series Finals in Dubai for a second time in her career, becoming the second women's singles player to do so (after Li Xuerui in 2012 and 2013). She also made history by becoming the first women's singles player to reach the finals in the Super Series Finals for three times. She ends 2016 as the year-end No. 1.

Tai started her 2017 season ranked No. 1, and won her first All England title in March, beating Ratchanok Intanon in the finals. In April, Tai won the Malaysia Open as well as the Singapore Open beating Carolina Marin in the finals two times in two weeks, Malaysia and Singapore being her fourth and fifth consecutive titles. Later in April, she won her first title against Akane Yamaguchi in the Badminton Asia 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 has extended her winning streak to 27 matches, before losing to Nitchaon Jindapol in the quarterfinals in Indonesia.

Playing style

Tai plays an offensive game, with many calling her style unpredictable and often spontaneous. She is a very adventurous player with huge disguise and she seems to be able to hit the shuttle from just about anywhere with a great range of different shots and angles. Remarkable is also her very relaxed hitting motion. Tai has clocked fast smashes, with the fastest recorded being 360 km/h at the 2016 All England Open quarterfinals, despite her preferring to play slowly so she could set up shots. She has a strong backhand and good net-play, her biggest fault being inconsistency at times. Tai has strong stamina, being muscular and 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 strategies. Tai's prodigious talent and deceptive shot-making has earned compliments of many, including BWF commentator Gillian Clark, who has said that Tai is one of the best players to watch in women's singles, and has often complimented her shot-making and talent.

Achievements

Individual titles (13)

Year	Tournament	Opponent in final	Score
2014	BWF Superseries Finals	Sung Ji-hyun	21–17, 21–12
2016	Indonesia Open	Wang Yihan	21–17, 21–8
2016	BWF Superseries Finals	Sung Ji-hyun	21–14, 21–13
2017	All England Open	Ratchanok Intanon	21–16, 22–20
2017	Malaysia Open	Carolina Marin	23–25, 22–20, 21–13
2012	Japan Open	Eriko Hirose	9–21, 21–9, 21–14
2013	Malaysia Open	Yao Xue	21–17, 21–14
2014	Hong Kong Open	Nozomi Okuhara	21–19, 21–11
2016	Hong Kong Open	P. V. Sindhu	21–15, 21–17
2017	Singapore Open	Carolina Marin	21–15, 21–15
2011	U.S. Open	Sayaka Sato	21–16, 19–21, 21–6
2012	Chinese Taipei Open	Lindaweni Fanetri	21–19, 20–22, 22–20
2016	Chinese Taipei Open	Wang Shixian	23–21, 21–6

Individual runners-up (8)

S. No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent in final	Score
1	2013	Super Series Masters Finals	Li Xuerui	21–8, 21–14
2	2016	Malaysia Open	Ratchanok Intanon	21–14, 21–15
3	2016	Denmark Open	Akane Yamaguchi	19–21, 21–14, 21–12
4	2010	Singapore Open	Saina Nehwal	21–18, 21–15
5	2014	Japan Open	Li Xuerui	21–16, 21–6
6	2015	Singapore Open	Sun Yu	21–13, 19–21, 22–20
7	2013	Chinese Taipei Open	Sung Ji-hyun	21–16, 21–9
8	2009	Vietnam Open	Fransisca Ratnasari	21–19, 15–21, 21–13

Performance timeline

Key

Tournament	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017
Olympic Games
Summer Olympics	NH			1R*	NH			1R*	NH
Asian Games
Asian Games	NH	A	NH			SF-B	NH
BWF World Championships
World Championships	A	A	A	NH	QF	QF	QF	NH	A
BWF Asia Championships
Asia Championships	A	A	2R	2R	QF	QF	SF-B	QF	G
Uber Cup
Uber Cup	NH	A	NH	QF	NH	RR	NH	QF	NH
Sudirman Cup
Sudirman Cup Singles	A	NH	QF	NH	QF	NH	QF	NH	QF
BWF Superseries Premier
Korea Open	SS		1R	2R	QF	SS
Malaysia Open	SS					2R	1R	F	W
All England Open	SS		2R	SF	1R	1R	SF	SF	W
Indonesia Open	SS		2R	1R	QF	2R	2R	W	QF
Denmark Open	SS		QF	A	1R	1R	2R	F
China Open	SS		A	A	1R	2R	QF	SF
BWF Superseries
Korea Open	A	2R	SSP			QF	QF	QF
Malaysia Open	A	Q2	2R	1R	W	SSP
All England Open	A	A	SSP
Swiss Open	A	A	GPG
India Open	GPG		A	1R	A	1R	A	QF	A
Indonesia Open	A	1R	SSP
Singapore Open	A	F	2R	2R	QF	QF	F	1R	W
China Masters	A	A	1R	A	A	GPG
Japan Open	A	2R	QF	W	SF	F	SF	1R
Australian Open	GPG					QF	1R	QF	SF
Denmark Open	A	2R	SSP
French Open	A	1R	SF	A	QF	1R	SF	QF
China Open	A	1R	SSP
Hong Kong Open	A	2R	A	1R	2R	W	QF	W
BWF Superseries Finals
World Superseries Finals	A	A	A	A	F	W	RR	W
BWF Grand Prix Gold
Chinese Taipei Open	Q1	QF	QF	W	F	2R	SF	W	A
U.S. Open	A	2R	W	Absent
Year-end rankings	158	20	16	10	7	7	9	1

1R* Since 2012, the preliminary stage consists of 16 groups of either two or three players. Each player plays every other member of the group with the top most player advancing to the knock-out stage, ultimately leading to the winner. In 2012 Summer Olympics, Tai Tzu-Ying advanced to the first round of knock-out stage but lost to Li Xuerui of China in 16-21, 21-23. Meanwhile, in 2016 Summer Olympics, Tai Tzu-Ying also advanced to the first round of knock-out stage but lost to P.V. Sindhu of India in 13-21, 15-21.

Record against selected opponents

Record against Superseries finalists, World Championships semifinalists, and Olympic quarterfinalists.^[4]

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 Chinese Taipei Badminton Association.^[5][6]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tai Tzu-ying.

• Tai Tzu-ying at BWF.tournamentsoftware.com
• Tai Tzu-ying on Facebook (in traditional Chinese)