Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying won the women’s singles final at the 2017 Yonex-Sunrise Hong Kong Open Nov. 26, securing her third title at the annual badminton tournament.
Defending champion and current world No. 1 Tai defeated India’s Pusarla V. Sindhu 21:18, 21:18 over the course of 45 minutes, taking home the grand prize of US$30,000.
The local star started off strong with a 3-point lead, maintaining her edge for most of the first game with Sindhu not far behind. The second game came down to the wire, with the lead changing hands multiple times before Tai leapt to victory over her Badminton World Federation-ranked world No. 3 opponent.
The match was the pair’s 11th professional encounter, with Tai claiming eight wins in total. The last time they faced off in a finals match was during the 2016 Hong Kong Open, which Tai won, catapulting her to world No. 1 in the BWF rankings.
After the most recent match, Tai thanked her fans for their unwavering support, adding that the crowd’s passionate cheers during the finals brought her good luck for the game. “I feel like my performance on the court this year has been steady and smooth,” she said, adding that she hopes to be able to maintain the firm momentum in future tournaments.
With this victory, Tai is now the first player in 10 years to successfully defend the Hong Kong Open women’s singles title. The win was also her fifth BWF superseries title for the 2017 calendar year, bringing to 10 the total number of her superseries titles.
Organized by the Hong Kong Badminton Association, this year’s tournament was held Nov. 21-26 at the Hong Kong Coliseum. Held since 1982, the games became a BWF-sanctioned superseries event in 2007.
Born in southern Taiwan’s Kaohsiung City, Tai has enjoyed a stellar career since debuting in 2009 and becoming the country’s youngest ever top-ranked player at age 16. She claimed a bronze at the 2014 Asian Games in South Korea and later the same year was the first Taiwan winner of the women’s singles event at the BWF Destination Dubai World Superseries Finals. (KWS-E)
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