Badminton’s world No. 2 Tai Tzu-ying yesterday exacted revenge against Olympic champion Chen Yufei by winning the Thailand Open women’s singles title in a rematch of their final in Tokyo.
The Taiwanese 27-year-old, who lost last year’s Thailand Open final to Spain’s Carolina Marin, got off to a fast start against the Chinese world No. 4 and eventually sealed the win 21-15, 17-21, 21-12.
She sped into a nine-point lead in the first game, but Chen, who was part of a Chinese team narrowly defeated by South Korea in last week’s Uber Cup in Bangkok, clawed her way back to take the second game and force a decider.
Photo: AFP
Tai then quickly opened up a seven-point lead in the final game and rode the momentum to claim victory.
With the win, Tai extended her head-to-head advantage to 16-4 over Chen, to whom she lost in Tokyo in a marathon 81 minutes.
In an interview with the Central News Agency after the match, Tai said that making fewer errors had been key to her victory.
“It was not easy to attack on offense, and Chen Yufei’s defense put a lot of pressure on my running,” Tai said.
“As long as you make fewer mistakes, you will be better at playing, and if you make more mistakes, you will easily lose the game,” Tai said.
Tai reeled in seven consecutive points to build a 15-7 advantage in the first game, maintaining a comfortable cushion before clinching the opener 21-15.
In a heavily contested second game, Tai was down 17-10 before capturing six consecutive points to reduce the deficit to 17-16.
However, Chen eventually triumphed 21-17 to force the match into a decisive final game.
In the third game, Tai scored seven consecutive points to build up an 11-4 lead, and, after changing sides, climbed ahead 19-12. She then executed a perfectly timed drop shot to reach championship point.
Staying on the front foot, Tai went into full attack mode, securing the title after sending two consecutive smashes down the line, the second a deke that left a flat-footed Chen on the floor.
The win puts some gloss on what has been a less than stellar season for Tai, who bowed out in the last 16 at the German Open in the middle of March, finished third at the All-England Championships the same month and lost to world No. 1 Akane Yamaguchi at the Uber Cup team tournament last week.
Additional reporting by CNA
Nvidia Corp yesterday unveiled its new high-speed interconnect technology, NVLink Fusion, with Taiwanese application-specific IC (ASIC) designers Alchip Technologies Ltd (世芯) and MediaTek Inc (聯發科) among the first to adopt the technology to help build semi-custom artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure for hyperscalers. Nvidia has opened its technology to outside users, as hyperscalers and cloud service providers are building their own cost-effective AI chips, or accelerators, used in AI servers by leveraging ASIC firms’ designing capabilities to reduce their dependence on Nvidia. Previously, NVLink technology was only available for Nvidia’s own AI platform. “NVLink Fusion opens Nvidia’s AI platform and rich ecosystem for
WARNING: From Jan. 1 last year to the end of last month, 89 Taiwanese have gone missing or been detained in China, the MAC said, urging people to carefully consider travel to China Lax enforcement had made virtually moot regulations banning civil servants from making unauthorized visits to China, the Control Yuan said yesterday. Several agencies allowed personnel to travel to China after they submitted explanations for the trip written using artificial intelligence or provided no reason at all, the Control Yuan said in a statement, following an investigation headed by Control Yuan member Lin Wen-cheng (林文程). The probe identified 318 civil servants who traveled to China without permission in the past 10 years, but the true number could be close to 1,000, the Control Yuan said. The public employees investigated were not engaged in national
ALL TOGETHER: Only by including Taiwan can the WHA fully exemplify its commitment to ‘One World for Health,’ the representative offices of eight nations in Taiwan said The representative offices in Taiwan of eight nations yesterday issued a joint statement reiterating their support for Taiwan’s meaningful engagement with the WHO and for Taipei’s participation as an observer at the World Health Assembly (WHA). The joint statement came as Taiwan has not received an invitation to this year’s WHA, which started yesterday and runs until Tuesday next week. This year’s meeting of the decisionmaking body of the WHO in Geneva, Switzerland, would be the ninth consecutive year Taiwan has been excluded. The eight offices, which reaffirmed their support for Taiwan, are the British Office Taipei, the Australian Office Taipei, the
CAUSE AND EFFECT: China’s policies prompted the US to increase its presence in the Indo-Pacific, and Beijing should consider if this outcome is in its best interests, Lai said China has been escalating its military and political pressure on Taiwan for many years, but should reflect on this strategy and think about what is really in its best interest, President William Lai (賴清德) said. Lai made the remark in a YouTube interview with Mindi World News that was broadcast on Saturday, ahead of the first anniversary of his presidential inauguration tomorrow. The US has clearly stated that China is its biggest challenge and threat, with US President Donald Trump and US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth repeatedly saying that the US should increase its forces in the Indo-Pacific region
RSS