World No. 1 Tai Tzu-ying of Taiwan yesterday defeated Zhang Beiwen of the US 21-19, 21-14 to reach the quarter-finals of the badminton World Championships.
Tai played a very strategic game, mixing up her shots beautifully to keep Zhang guessing the entire match, but for Tai, it was just business as usual.
“Everyone has adapted to my play, I assume,” Tai said. “It has barely changed.”
Photo: AFP
Tai has looked unstoppable this year, with only one loss in 36 matches. Her lone defeat came against Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon in the final of the Malaysia Masters in January.
Second seed Akane Yamaguchi of Japan eased past Thailand’s Nitchaon Jindapol in straight games to advance, along with No. 5 Chen Yufei and No. 6 He Bingjiao of China.
In the women’s doubles, top seeds Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan beat Du Yue and Li Yinhui 21-18, 21-13 in an all-China matchup. They will next face the No. 5 seeds Greysia Polii and Apriyana Rahayu of Indonesia.
Photo: AP
Top-seeded mixed doubles pair Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong of China beat Hafiz Faizal and Gloria Widjaja of Indonesia 21-15, 21-13 to reach the semi-finals.
In the men’s singles, defending champion Viktor Axelsen advanced to the quarter-finals with a 21-19, 21-18 win over Angus Ng Ka Long of Hong Kong.
Axelsen was tested throughout the match as Ng jumped out to early leads in both games and kept it close.
“I didn’t feel that good on court, to be honest,” Axelsen said. “My opponent definitely made it tough for me.”
The top-seeded Dane will next face Olympic champion Chen Long, who beat No. 14 seed Kenta Nishimoto of Japan 21-18, 21-19 to advance.
However, badminton is not Axelsen’s only talent — he also speaks Chinese.
He said after his win yesterday that while he was not at his best in defeating Ng, it helped that he was able to draw on the crowd, who have taken to the Dane partly because of his efforts to learn very passable Chinese.
Having a good grasp of Mandarin helps in a sport where many of his rivals are Chinese or of Chinese descent. Axelsen has been learning for about four years and can give interviews in the language.
He has even taken to translating for his rivals, including the Chinese badminton legend Lin Dan, and he can also use it to listen in on the tactics of his Chinese opponents.
“It really helps me communicate with my Chinese fans and I really appreciate all the support out here,” he said. “Having the Chinese fans yelling your name, I really appreciate that. It is also really convenient to be able to speak a bit, not only with the other players, but at restaurants and out there in the real world, so to speak.”
As well as endearing himself to Chinese fans, Axelsen hopes that having the language would be useful for life after badminton.
Axelsen won the first game 21-19, then he and Ng went toe-to-toe in the second, trading points, before the Dane pulled away at the end.
He celebrated with a heartfelt swing of his fist.
“I struggled a little bit to win it and that’s why I showed some emotions out there today,” he added, before passing a couple of Chinese players and exchanging pleasantries — in Chinese.
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