Tai Tzu ying

Career

Tai’s father is a firefighter and the director of Kaohsiung city’s badminton committee. His favorite activity in spare time is playing badminton. Tai started playing badminton as third grader in elementary school. She won the title in the nationwide second division game, and got the access to participate in the first division games. Furthermore, she was the youngest player to compete in the first division.

In 2009, Tai, aged 15, began to compete in international games. She was the runner-up in her first game at the Vietnam Open. In July, she represented Kaohsiung City to play in the National Games and went into the quarter final. In the same month, she signed up for Asian Youth Badminton Tournament in Malaysia and became the runner-up. In December, Tai competed at the East Asian Games for Chinese Taipei and won one silver and one bronze medal.

In 2012, she won her first ever Super Series title in Japan Open and made a history as the youngest player who won Super Series title (Currently the third youngest player, after Ratchanok Intanon won the India Open in 2013, and Akane Yamaguchi won the Japan Open 2013).

She won the Yonex Chinese Taipei Open 2012 against Lindaweni Fanetri, but failed to defend her title in 2013, losing to Sung Ji-hyun 21–16, 21–9.

In August 2013, she was recruited by the team Banga Beats to play for them in the Indian Badminton League.

In the 2013 BWF Super Series Masters Finals, she defeated Sung Ji-hyun and Porntip Buranaprasertsuk but lost to Wang Shixian. She made it into the semifinals and successfully avenged her loss, beating Wang Shixian. She ended second after losing the final to Li Xuerui.

Tai represented her country at the 2014 Asian Games and won Chinese Taipei's first badminton medal by placing third. She won the Hong Kong Open in 2014 after winning Nozomi Okuhara of Japan in straight sets, 21–19, 21–11. She kept her winning streak to the Super Series Finals in Dubai and won the first gold medal for Chinese Taipei in the Super Series finals by beating Sung Ji-hyun in straight sets.

In 2015, she was beaten by Sun Yu in Singapore Open. She did not win any title this year.

In 2016, Tai won the Indonesia Super Series and the Hong Kong Super Series to reach World No.1 for the first time in her career. She won the Super Series Finals in Dubai for a second time in her career, becoming the second women's singles player to do so (after Li Xuerui in 2012 and 2013). She also made history by becoming the first women's singles player to reach the finals in the Super Series Finals for three times. She ends 2016 as the year-end No. 1.

Tai started her 2017 season ranked No. 1, and won her first All England title in March, beating Ratchanok Intanon in the finals. In April, Tai won the Malaysia Open as well as the Singapore Open beating Carolina Marin in the finals two times in two weeks, Malaysia and Singapore being her fourth and fifth consecutive titles. Later in April, she won her first title against Akane Yamaguchi in the Badminton Asia Championships held in Wuhan, China, marking a sixth consecutive title. It was also the first gold medal for Taiwan in this competition.

After winning 3 matches in the 2017 Sudirman Cup, Tai has extended her winning streak to 27 matches, before losing to Nitchaon Jindapol in the quarterfinals in Indonesia.

Playing style

Tai plays an offensive game, with many calling her style unpredictable and often spontaneous. She is a very adventurous player with huge disguise and she seems to be able to hit the shuttle from just about anywhere with a great range of different shots and angles. Remarkable is also her very relaxed hitting motion. Tai has clocked fast smashes, with the fastest recorded being 360 km/h at the 2016 All England Open quarterfinals, despite her preferring to play slowly so she could set up shots. She has a strong backhand and good net-play, her biggest fault being inconsistency at times. Tai has strong stamina, being muscular and with a six-pack. Tai herself said that she does not follow a certain play or style, and focuses on herself rather than her opponent or strategies. Tai's prodigious talent and deceptive shot-making has earned compliments of many, including BWF commentator Gillian Clark, who has said that Tai is one of the best players to watch in women's singles, and has often complimented her shot-making and talent.

Performance timeline

1R* Since 2012, the preliminary stage consists of 16 groups of either two or three players. Each player plays every other member of the group with the top most player advancing to the knock-out stage, ultimately leading to the winner. In 2012 Summer Olympics, Tai Tzu-Ying advanced to the first round of knock-out stage but lost to Li Xuerui of China in 16-21, 21-23. Meanwhile, in 2016 Summer Olympics, Tai Tzu-Ying also advanced to the first round of knock-out stage but lost to P.V. Sindhu of India in 13-21, 15-21.

Record against selected opponents

Record against Superseries finalists, World Championships semifinalists, and Olympic quarterfinalists.

Yonex controversy

During the period of 2016 Summer Olympics, Yonex provided unfit shoes to non-contract Tai. This forced Tai to wear other shoes made by her personal sponsor brand, Victor, without any logo. This event caused a controversy with Chinese Taipei Badminton Association.