NEW DELHI: It is cold outside but inside the indoor stadium some quality badminton is setting the stage on fire literally. Tai Tzu-ying is is one of the exponents who seems to be in a happy spot at the moment. She’s doing what she does best, manipulating the shuttle at will and getting those all-important ‘Ws’. At 29, the widely-recognised shuttler, who has loads of experience behind her, is not getting any younger and there have been talks about her retirement from the sport.
She might not be as near-flawless like she used to be during her prime, but she has been purring in her recent matches. On Saturday, that was visible yet again as she captivated a sizeable crowd here with some high-quality badminton.
Sporting her trademark headband, the Taiwanese magician was off to a relatively modest start against Singapore’s Yeo Jia Min in the women’s singles semifinals. However, Tai never lost her laser focus and the World No 3 came out on top to reach her nth final of her decorated career.
Her upswing in results could not have come at a better time — just about six months before the all-important Olympics. After signing off the year 2023 with a title (BWF World Tour Finals), she reached the Malaysia Open final last week. The winner of 16 BWF World Tour titles now has a chance to add to that tally. Even after the match, she was acknowledging the crowd and had a beaming smile on her face.
“I’m very happy. In the second game, I was falling behind but I managed to win. I enjoyed playing today (Saturday). I think that the audience cheering for me gave me strength and helped me turn the game,” she told reporters with the help of a translator during the post-match interaction.
