Tai Tzu-ying

Tai Tzu-ying 戴資穎
Tai Tzu-ying at the 2016 Chinese Taipei Open
Personal information
Country	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	Jian-Cheng Lai (賴建誠)
Women's singles
Career title(s)	23
Highest ranking	1 (1 December 2016)
Current ranking	1 (4 October 2018)
Medal record Women's badminton Representing  Chinese Taipei Asian Games 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Women's singles 2014 Incheon Women's singles Asian Championships 2017 Wuhan Women's singles 2018 Wuhan Women's singles 2015 Wuhan Women's singles East Asian Games 2009 Hong Kong Women's team 2013 Tianjin Women's team 2009 Hong Kong Women's singles Summer Universiade 2017 Taipei Women's singles 2017 Taipei Mixed team 2013 Kazan Women's singles 2013 Kazan Mixed team 2015 Gwangju Women's singles Asian Junior Championships 2009 Kuala Lumpur Girls' 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 Taiwanese professional badminton player.^[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 Taiwanese badminton history. She became world No. 1 in women's singles on December 2016, age 22, and was ranked No.1 for 67 consecutive weeks till 5th August 2018.

Tai was a 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 had a 27-match winning streak since losing to Sung Ji-Hyun at the Superseries Finals. She also won the Hong Kong Super Series three times, in 2014, 2016, and 2017.

After olympics in 2016, Tai shot to number one ranking at the end of november and held that place for quite a while. Her shot making and imagination make her stand out from other players in the tour.

Career

Tai's father is a firefighter and the director of Kaohsiung city's badminton committee. Her favorite activity in her spare time is playing badminton. Tai started playing badminton as a third grader in elementary school. She won the title in the second national division, earning the right 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 at the Vietnam Open. In July, she represented Kaohsiung City in the National Games and went into the quarter final. In the same month, she entered the 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 Super Series title in the Japan Open and made history as the youngest player to win the 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 beating Nozomi Okuhara of Japan in straight sets, 21–19, 21–11. She extended 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 the Singapore Open. She did not win any title that 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, 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 three times. She ended 2016 as the year-end No. 1.

Before the 2017 season started,^[4] 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^[5] for her home country but also for the bigger picture.^[6] 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.^[7] She won the Special Contribution Award in 2017 Sports Elite Awards.

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. 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 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 had extended her winning streak to 27 matches, before losing to Nitchaon Jindapol in the quarterfinals in Indonesia.

In the starting of the season Tai participated in the Malaysian master super 500 tournament in which she defeated Chen Yufei in the quarter final and Carolina Marin in a thrilling semi final, coming from a game down, but lost to Ratchanok Intanon in final.

Her next tournament was the Indonesian Master 500, which she won 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 Badminton Asia Championships, she won the title after defeating Chen Yufei in the final in Wuhan and regained her world no 1 ranking.

In 2018 BWF World Championships' third round, she defeated Zhang Beiwen from United States in straight games (21–19, 21–14) and broke the record of the longest winning streak with 31 consecutive matches won (Indonesia Masters⁽⁵⁾, All England Open⁽⁵⁾, Badminton Asia Championships⁽⁵⁾, Uber Cup⁽⁴⁾, Malaysia Open⁽⁵⁾, Indonesia Open⁽⁵⁾, BWF World Championships⁽²⁾), 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 Asian games Jakarta she won the title beating in indias PV Sindhu in a straight set it is her first big title after that victory in Jakarta her Instagram account is verified ^[8]

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 preferrence of playing slowly so she could set up shots. She has a strong backhand and good net-play, her biggest fault being inconsistent 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

Asian Games

Women's singles

Year	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result
2018	Istora Gelora Bung Karno, Jakarta, Indonesia	P. V. Sindhu	21–13, 21–16	Gold
2014	Gyeyang Gymnasium, Incheon, South Korea	Li Xuerui	16–21, 26–24, 8–21	Bronze

Asian Championships

Women's singles

Year	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result
2018	Wuhan Sports Center Gymnasium, Wuhan, China	Chen Yufei	21–19, 22–20	Gold
2017	Wuhan Sports Center Gymnasium, Wuhan, China	Akane Yamaguchi	18–21, 21–11, 21–18	Gold
2015	Wuhan Sports Center Gymnasium, Wuhan, China	Ratchanok Intanon	22–20, 9–21, 12–21	Bronze

East Asian Games

Women's singles

Year	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result
2009	Queen Elizabeth Stadium, Hong Kong	Yip Pui Yin	17–21, 21–17, 19–21	Bronze

Summer Universiade

Women's singles

Year	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result
2017	Taipei Gymnasium, Taipei, Taiwan	Lee Jang-mi	21–9, 21–13	Gold
2015	Hwasun Hanium Culture Sports Center, Hwasun, South Korea	Porntip Buranaprasertsuk	12–21, 14–21	Bronze
2013	Tennis Academy, Kazan, Russia	Sung Ji-hyun	16–21, 27–29	Silver

World University Championships

Women's singles

Year	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result
2012	Yeomju Gymnasium and Bitgoeul Gymnasium, Gwangju, South Korea	Pai Hsiao-ma	21–13 Retired	Gold

Women's doubles

Year	Venue	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
2012	Yeomju Gymnasium and Bitgoeul Gymnasium, Gwangju, South Korea	Pai Hsiao-ma	Miri Ichimaru Shiho Tanaka	20–22, 11–21	Silver

Asian Junior Championships

Girls' singles

Year	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result
2009	Stadium Juara, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Chen Xiaojia	13–21, 13–21	Silver

BWF World Tour

The BWF World Tour, announced on 19 March 2017 and implemented in 2018,^[9] is a series of elite badminton tournaments, sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF). The BWF World Tour are divided into six levels, namely World Tour Finals, Super 1000, Super 750, Super 500, Super 300 (part of the HSBC World Tour), and the BWF Tour Super 100.^[10]

Women's singles

Year	Tournament	Level	Opponent	Score	Result
2018	Chinese Taipei Open	Super 300	Line Kjaersfeldt	17–21, 21–10, 21–13	Winner
2018	Indonesia Open	Super 1000	Chen Yufei	21–23, 21–15, 21–9	Winner
2018	Malaysia Open	Super 750	He Bingjiao	22–20, 21–11	Winner
2018	All England Open	Super 1000	Akane Yamaguchi	22–20, 21–13	Winner
2018	Indonesia Masters	Super 500	Saina Nehwal	21–9, 21–13	Winner
2018	Malaysia Masters	Super 500	Ratchanok Intanon	16–21, 21–14, 22–24	Runner-up

BWF Superseries

Women's singles

Year	Tournament	Opponent	Score	Result
2017	Hong Kong Open	P. V. Sindhu	21–18, 21–18,	Winner
2017	French Open	Akane Yamaguchi	21–4, 21–16	Winner
2017	Singapore Open	Carolina Marin	21–15, 21–15	Winner
2017	Malaysia Open	Carolina Marin	23–25, 22–20, 21–13	Winner
2017	All England Open	Ratchanok Intanon	21–16, 22–20	Winner
2016	BWF Super Series Finals	Sung Ji-hyun	21–14, 21–13	Winner
2016	Hong Kong Open	P. V. Sindhu	21–15, 21–17	Winner
2016	Denmark Open	Akane Yamaguchi	21–19, 14–21, 12–21	Runner-up
2016	Indonesia Open	Wang Yihan	21–17, 21–8	Winner
2016	Malaysia Open	Ratchanok Intanon	14–21, 15–21	Runner-up
2015	Singapore Open	Sun Yu	13–21, 21–19, 20–22	Runner-up
2014	BWF Super Series Finals	Sung Ji-hyun	21–17, 21–12	Winner
2014	Hong Kong Open	Nozomi Okuhara	21–19, 21–11	Winner
2014	Japan Open	Li Xuerui	16–21, 6–21	Runner-up
2013	BWF Super Series Finals	Li Xuerui	8–21, 14–21	Runner-up
2013	Malaysia Open	Yao Xue	21–17, 21–14	Winner
2012	Japan Open	Eriko Hirose	9–21, 21–9, 21–14	Winner
2010	Singapore Open	Saina Nehwal	18–21, 15–21	Runner-up

     BWF Superseries Finals tournament

     BWF Superseries Premier tournament

     BWF Superseries tournament

BWF Grand Prix

Women's singles

Year	Tournament	Opponent	Score	Result
2016	Chinese Taipei Open	Wang Shixian	23–21, 21–6	Winner
2013	Chinese Taipei Open	Sung Ji-hyun	16–21, 9–21	Runner-up
2012	Chinese Taipei Open	Lindaweni Fanetri	21–19, 20–22, 22–20	Winner
2011	U.S. Open	Sayaka Sato	21–16, 19–21, 21–6	Winner
2009	Vietnam Open	Fransisca Ratnasari	19–21, 21–15, 13–21	Runner-up

     BWF Grand Prix Gold tournament

     BWF Grand Prix tournament

Invitation Tournament

Mixed doubles

Year	Tournament	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
2017	Jeunesse Cup International All Star	Wang Tzu-wei	Mads Conrad-Petersen Line Kjaersfeldt	18–21, 20–22	Runner-up

Performance timeline

Key

W

F

SF

QF

#R

RR

Q#

A

SF-B

S

G

NH

N/A

Tournament	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018
Olympic Games
Summer Olympics	NH			1R*	NH			1R*	NH
Asian Games
Asian Games	NH	A	NH			SF-B	NH			G
BWF World Championships
World Championships	A	A	A	NH	QF	QF	QF	NH	A	QF
BWF Asia Championships
Asia Championships	A	A	2R	2R	QF	QF	SF-B	QF	G	G
Uber Cup
Uber Cup	NH	A	NH	QF	NH	RR	NH	QF	NH	QF
Sudirman Cup
Sudirman Cup Singles	A	NH	QF	NH	QF	NH	QF	NH	QF	NH
BWF Superseries Premier										S1000
All England Open	SS		2R	SF	1R	1R	SF	SF	W	W
Indonesia Open	SS		2R	1R	QF	2R	2R	W	QF	W
China Open	SS		A	A	1R	2R	QF	SF	QF	1R
										S750
Malaysia Open	SS					2R	1R	F	W	W
Denmark Open	SS		QF	A	1R	1R	2R	F	SF
Korea Open	SS		1R	2R	QF	SS				S500
BWF Superseries
French Open	A	1R	SF	A	QF	1R	SF	QF	W
Japan Open	A	2R	QF	W	SF	F	SF	1R	A	2R
China Masters	A	A	1R	A	A	GPG
										S500
Korea Open	A	2R	SSP			QF	QF	QF	2R	A
India Open	GPG		A	1R	A	1R	A	QF	A	A
Hong Kong Open	A	2R	A	1R	2R	W	QF	W	W
Singapore Open	A	F	2R	2R	QF	QF	F	1R	W	A
Malaysia Masters	GPG									F
Indonesian Masters	GPG									W
Thailand Open	GPG									A
Malaysia Open	A	Q2	2R	1R	W	SSP				S750
All England Open	A	A	SSP							S1000
Swiss Open	A	A	GPG							S300
Indonesia Open	A	1R	SSP							S1000
Denmark Open	A	2R	SSP							S1000
China Open	A	1R	SSP							S1000
										S300
Australian Open	GPG					QF	1R	QF	SF	A
BWF Grand Prix Gold
Chinese Taipei Open	Q1	QF	QF	W	F	2R	SF	W	A	W
U.S. Open	A	2R	W	Absent
BWF Superseries Finals
World Superseries Finals	A	A	A	A	F	W	RR	W	RR
Year-end rankings	158	20	16	10	7	7	9	1	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.

Sponsorships

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tai Tzu-ying.

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