Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying has been nominated by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) for Female Player of the Year, the BWF Web site announced on Friday.
China’s Huang Yaqiong and Japan’s women’s doubles pairing, Yuki Fukushima and Sayaka Hirota, have also been nominated for the prestigious award, which is to be presented today at the BWF’s annual gala dinner in Guangzhou, China.
Ranked the world No. 1 female player, Tai won women’s singles titles at eight tournaments: the Indonesia Masters, All England Open, Badminton Asia Championships, Malaysia Open, Indonesia Open, Asian Games, Chinese Open and Denmark Open.
Photo: AFP
Except for two weeks in April, she has been at the top of the world rankings since Dec. 1, 2016.
Tai set a new record for the number of ranking points earned in a 52-week period, racking up 101,667 points to beat the 101,644 points earned by China’s Li Xuerui in 2014.
In addition to Female Player of the Year, the awards presented at this year’s gala are to include best male player, most promising player and most improved player.
The awards ceremony marks the start of the HSBC BWF World Tour Finals, held in Guangzhou from Wednesday to Sunday.
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