Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying (戴資穎) was too strong once again for Saina Nehwal of India at the Indonesia Masters in Jakarta yesterday, knocking out her old rival to secure her first singles title of the season.
The world No. 1, who had an 8-5 career mark against Nehwal and had won their past six encounters dating back to 2014, was in control throughout the match and overwhelmed her Indian opponent 21-9, 21-3 in just 27 minutes.
The 23-year-old Tai said she was happy to win the title, especially because another of the major events on her calendar this year, the Asian Games in late August, will also be held in Jakarta.
Photo: EPA-EFE
“I’m happy that I was able to play all the way to today, because the more I played, the more I was able to get ready for future events here,” Tai said.
“My 2018 target is the World Championships and Asian Games because those two tournaments are the biggest,” she said.
The World Championships are scheduled for late July in Nanjing, China.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Tai missed last year’s World Championships to play in the Taipei Universiade, where she faced little competition and easily won the singles’ gold medal.
Nehwal on Saturday had high hopes that her form and fitness had finally returned after previous season were marred by injuries. She reached the final with a difficult 21-19, 21-19 win over Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand.
“I have the confidence, because I have beaten these players before, but the touch was missing. I was not able to cross the rounds, because my fitness was not up to the mark, but in this tournament, I can see that my fitness is good. I’m able to hit well, move well,” said Nehwal, a former world No. 1 and 2012 Olympic bronze medalist. “Hopefully, [tomorrow] will be like a dream come true.”
However, Tai quickly put that dream on hold, jumping to a 10-2 lead in the first game and a 9-3 lead in the second game to leave no doubt about the outcome.
Tai, who is known for keeping opponents off-balance with shots that are hard to read, reached the finals in last week’s Malaysia Masters, but fell to Intanon 21-16, 14-21, 24-22.
She is hoping to build on her incredible year last year, when she solidified her No. 1 ranking by winning the All England Open, Malaysia Open, Singapore Open and Badminton Asia Championships in succession and then capturing the French Open and Hong Kong Open.
Tai was the only Taiwanese who reached a final at the Badminton World Federation World Tour Super 500 event in Jakarta. Chou Tien-chen (周天成) was knocked out in the semi-finals of the men’s singles on Saturday, losing to Anthony Sinisuka Ginting of Indonesia.
Ginting, 21, yesterday defeated Japan’s Kazumasa Sakai 21-13, 21-12 to take the men’s title in just 33 minutes of play.
The mixed doubles title was won by China’s Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong, who defeated Indonesia’s Tontowi Ahmad and Liliyana Natsir 21-14, 21-11.
Additional reporting by AFP
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