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World No 1 shuttler Tai smashes to fifth straight title with S’pore Open win

SINGAPORE — World No 1 Tai Tzu Ying (picture) is proving to be an unstoppable force on the badminton world circuit, with the Taiwanese extending her winning streak to five consecutive titles yesterday after claiming the women’s singles crown at the OUE Singapore Open.

Tai Tzu Ying. Photo: OUE Singapore Open

Tai Tzu Ying. Photo: OUE Singapore Open

SINGAPORE — World No 1 Tai Tzu Ying (picture) is proving to be an unstoppable force on the badminton world circuit, with the Taiwanese extending her winning streak to five consecutive titles yesterday after claiming the women’s singles crown at the OUE Singapore Open.

In a repeat of last week’s Malaysian Open in Kuching, Tai found herself up against Spain’s world No 2, Carolina Marin, again. The 22-year-old, who had not been beaten by Marin since last November, promptly despatched the Olympic champion 21-15, 21-15 to win her first title in Singapore.

However, Tai, the first-ever shuttler from Taiwan to reach the top of the world rankings, was hardly impressed with her own achievement. In a manner that reflected her assured demeanour on court, the soft-spoken Tai insisted that she does not keep count of the number of titles under her belt.

“Today, I forced myself to enter ‘competition mode’ quickly, which worked,” said Tai, who had started sluggishly in her semi-final match against the United States’ Zhang Beiwen on Saturday. “She (Marin) was quite rushed and made more mistakes than usual … so I needed to be patient.

“I don’t have any special feelings in particular about winning five titles in a row; I just enjoy the feeling of competing on court, and the support I get.”

Tai has been unstoppable since winning last November’s Hong Kong Open, which propelled her to the top spot the following month.

Facing a resurgent Marin, the reigning world champion seeking her first title since winning Olympic gold last August, Tai stayed the course to beat the Spaniard for a fourth successive time and edge ahead 5-4 on their head-to-head record.

Despite her disappointment, Marin was happy with her progress as the 23-year-old had been troubled by niggling injuries since her gold medal triumph in Rio. “I couldn’t keep my focus on the game because I was so negative; I need to learn from that,” she said.

“I am feeling really good (physically) … but I need to learn from all my three finals, just to keep going and working harder — but I’ll be back.”

The former world No 1 vowed to regain her spot at the top, adding: “I think she (Tai) is doing really good (now), but let’s see how she can keep going, because it’s really hard to keep (up) this kind of performance. Someday, I will be No 1 again, because I will fight for it.”

It was an all-Indian affair in the men’s singles, with B Sai Praneeth defeating compatriot Srikanth Kidambi 17-21, 21-17, 21-12 to clinch the first Super Series title of his career.

The battle for the women’s doubles crown saw world No 2 pair Kamilla Rytter Juhl and Christinna Pedersen of Denmark exacting revenge for their Olympic final loss to world No 1 Japanese duo Misaki Matsutomo and Ayaka Takahashi, as the Danes won the contest 21-18, 14-21, 21-15. All-England champions and world No 2 Lu Kai and Huang Yaqiong of China claimed the mixed doubles title after a hard-fought 19-21, 21-16, 21-11 win over Thailand’s Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai.

The last match at the Singapore Indoor Stadium saw spectators treated to a thrilling upset, as world No 6 Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen (Demmark) brushed aside world No 2 Lui Junhui and Liu Yuchen of China 21-13, 21-14 to give Denmark a second Singapore Open title. 

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