Unseeded Tai Tzu-ying of Taiwan beat Sayaka Sato of Japan on Saturday in the women’s singles final of the US Open Grand Prix Gold tournament to win her first international championship.
Tai, ranked No. 24 in the world by the Badminton World Federation, won the match 21-16, 19-21, 21-6 against eighth-seeded Sato, ranked No. 19 in the world.
A day earlier, the 17-year-old upset fifth-seeded Eriko Hirose of Japan in straight sets to advance to the final of the US$120,000 event.
Tai’s best showing prior to this victory was at the Li-Ning Singapore Open Super Series last year, in which she reached the women’s singles final before losing to Saina Nehwal of India.
Tai has always had the makings of one of the nation’s top badminton prospects.
She qualified for the top badminton division as a sixth grader, the fastest to rise to such a level since Cheng Shao-chieh, who was seeded second in US Open women’s singles, but lost in the quarter-finals.
She also represented Taiwan in the 2009 East Asian Games and at the biennial Sudirman Cup this year.
If Tai can keep her ranking high through next year, she could earn a spot at the London Olympics.
Qualifiers for the London Games will be chosen based on players’ federation rankings as of May 3 next year.
However, Tai’s father is in no rush to see his daughter compete for an Olympic medal.
“I told her that she was not playing for me and that we weren’t in a rush. Even if she can’t go to London next year, she can always work toward the 2016 or 2020 games,” her father said.
In the other action, Taiwan’s Chen Hung-ling and Cheng Wen-hsing lost in the mixed doubles final to Lee Yong-dae and Ha Jung-eun of South Korea 21-19, 21-13.
The Philadelphia 76ers, fueled by 36 points from Tyrese Maxey and a triple-double from Joel Embiid, on Thursday beat the Houston Rockets 128-122 in an NBA overtime thriller. Cameroonian big man Embiid scored 32 points, grabbed 15 rebounds and handed out 10 assists, posting the ninth triple-double of his career to help the Sixers end the Rockets’ three-game winning streak. Rockets star Kevin Durant scored 36 points and Amen Thompson added 17, but Thompson was scoreless in the fourth quarter. Even so, the Rockets led by nine midway through the final frame, Maxey tying it at 115-115 with 40.1 seconds left. Durant missed a
The Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo on Friday said that he will probably be out for an extended period after hurting his right calf again after a similar injury caused him to miss eight games earlier this season. Antetokounmpo had his right calf wrapped in the first half of their 102-100 loss to the Denver Nuggets. He did not appear comfortable the rest of the night and left for good with 34 seconds remaining. “At the end, I could not move no more, so I had to stop playing,” Antetokounmpo said. The two-time NBA Most Valuable Player said he expected to undergo an MRI
Taiwanese FORTUNES: Wu Fang-hsien and Hsieh Su-wei both advanced to the last 16 of the women’s doubles, but Ray Ho was ousted in the men’s doubles Carlos Alcaraz yesterday stepped up his quest to win a maiden Australian Open as he overwhelmed showman Corentin Moutet to reach the last 16, while Taiwan’s Wu Fang-hsien and Hsieh Su-wei both advanced to the last 16 of the women’s doubles. Three-time finalist Daniil Medvedev battled through on day six at a warm and sunny Melbourne Park, as did Coco Gauff. Top seed Alcaraz was never in danger against French 32nd seed Moutet, easing through 6-2, 6-4, 6-1 at Rod Laver Arena in 2 hours, 5 minutes. It was the Spaniard’s 100th Grand Slam match and he boasts a remarkable 87-13 win-loss record,
LICENSE TO THRILL: Fans of Learner Tien, the youngest man to reach the quarter-finals in 11 years, wore ‘L Plates,’ signs for learning drivers, in support of the 20-year-old Taiwan’s Wu Fang-hsien and Japanese partner Eri Hozumi yesterday dominated eighth seeds Ellen Perez of Australia and the Netherlands’ Demi Schuurs to advance to the Australian Open quarter-finals, the furthest the Taiwanese has made it since her first appearance in Melbourne in 2020. Wu and Hozumi overpowered world No. 21 Perez and world No. 20 Schuurs 6-2, 6-2 in 1 hour, 11 minutes at 1573 Arena in much cooled temperatures since Saturday’s blazing 40°C disrupted play. World No. 34 Wu has now made it further in the Australian Open since she was knocked out in the third round in 2024. The Taiwanese-Japanese duo
RSS