Taiwanese badminton star Tai Tzu-ying yesterday returned to international competition after an eight-month break with a victory at the Yonex Thailand Open in Bangkok.
Twenty-six-year-old Tai, 26, the top-seeded player at the tournament, met 18-year-old Thai player Benyapa Aimsaard in the opening round and narrowly won 21-18, 26-24.
Her previous tournament was the Yonex All England Open in March last year, where she won the women’s singles title, before the BWF World Tour was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Photo: AFP
Benyapa was a last-minute replacement after another Thai player pulled out of the event.
It was a rollercoaster match for Tai. She led the first game 18-13 before her opponent scored five straight points to pull even, but she rallied to clinch the game by rolling off the next three points.
The world No. 1 struggled to put away her Thai opponent in the second game. She had to save a game point, and needed six game points of her own before taking the match.
Although there are no Chinese in the draw, there are still several top-ranked players competing who could test Tai, including her next opponent, Kim Ga-eun of South Korea, who is ranked No. 17.
Four other Taiwanese are scheduled to compete today.
In the men’s singles, Chou Tien-chen and Wang Tzu-wei are set to meet Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk of Thailand and Brice Leverdez of France respectively.
Meanwhile, sixth-seeded pair Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin are to take on non-seeded Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen of Denmark in the men’s doubles.
Indian badminton star Saina Nehwal yesterday tested positive for COVID-19 at the Thailand Open, as officials rushed to contain a potential outbreak.
Nehwal, who was receiving medical treatment at a Bangkok hospital, was one of four players to test positive, the BWF said.
However, specimens from the three other players — India’s H.S. Prannoy and an unnamed Egyptian and German — later tested negative after they were re-examined. They were to be tested again yesterday.
Nehwal, a former world No. 1 and 2012 Olympic bronze medalist, wrote on Twitter that she was told to go to hospital “just before” her opening match.
Her husband, men’s singles competitor Parupalli Kashyap, has gone into hotel isolation.
“The entire Indian team has been categorized high-risk by Thai health authorities and all players and their entourage are self-quarantining in their rooms at the hotel,” the Badminton Association of India said in a statement.
The association said that despite being considered “high-risk,” other Indian players were still allowed to play their matches yesterday.
In further bad news for India, Rio de Janeiro Olympics silver medalist P.V. Sindhu was a high-profile casualty on day one as she lost to Denmark’s Mia Blichfeldt, 21-16, 24-26, 13-21.
The national cricket body (CTCSA) yesterday presented plans to develop the sport in Taiwan, with hints that an Asian Games bid might be on the horizon. At a luncheon at the Orient Luxury Hotel in Chiayi City, CTCSA chairman Lu Jia-hong presented plans the association has to build cricket grounds in Yunlin County’s Mailiao Township. The CTCSA said that the assistance of expat teams in Taiwan was crucial to its plans. Taiwan has upward of 13 cricket clubs, but only one dedicated ground — the Yingfeng Cricket Ground in Taipei’s Songshan District. Lu said that the association is focused on gaining Asian Cricket Council
‘HUGE MISTAKE’: Boris Johnson pledged to support any effort to stop the breakaway league, while UEFA’s president said that the teams involved still had time to back out FIFA president Gianni Infantino yesterday said that breakaway European Super League clubs cannot be “half in, half out” of the established soccer system, while Real Madrid president Florentino Perez insisted he is trying to “save football” with the move. European soccer’s governing body UEFA has threatened to ban the 12 clubs, who include Manchester United and Real Madrid, from domestic and international competition, with Infantino adding his voice to the backlash. “We strongly disapprove ... if some go their own way then they must live with the consequences of their choice, either you are in, or you are out. You cannot be
TEAM ‘RESET’: Although it remains to be seen if Messi’s seventh Copa del Rey will be his last with Barca, the win has helped the team find its footing amid uncertainty Lionel Messi on Saturday scored twice, including a stunning solo goal, as Barcelona blew away Athletic Bilbao to win the Copa del Rey, consigning their opponents to a second final defeat in two weeks. The cup was won and lost in a whirlwind 12 minutes in Seville, which saw Barca score four times to clinch an emphatic 4-0 victory, with Messi at his devastating best. It remains to be seen if his seventh Copa del Rey triumph is the last trophy Messi lifts in Barcelona colors, but if this was to be a final flourish, the 33-year-old crafted a fitting farewell. “It’s very
‘CYNICAL PROJECT’: La Liga president Javier Tebas compared the 12 clubs to drunks leaving a bar at 5am ‘intoxicated with selfishness and a lack of solidarity’ Twelve of Europe’s most powerful clubs yesterday announced the launch of a breakaway European Super League (ESL) in a potentially seismic shift in the way soccer is run, but faced accusations of greed and cynicism. Six English Premier League teams — Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur — are involved, alongside Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Juventus, Inter and AC Milan. The ESL said the founding clubs had agreed to create a “new midweek competition,” but would continue to “compete in their respective national leagues.” It said it hoped the inaugural edition would start “as soon as practicable.” Three more
RSS