Tai Tzu-Ying

Introduction

This article will cover about the famous badminton player Tai Tzu-Ying. We will first learn about her broad description, which is familiar to millions of people, and then we will skim through her early life to better comprehend her. We will find out about her career from the beginning to the present and become acquainted with her successes and mistakes. Her playing style was fully detailed after that. Her off-court nature is also highlighted in the article. Following that, we will read expert or critic critiques of her game and what they believe she needs to work on. Furthermore, we will learn about Tai Tzu's coach, who helped her through the highs and lows of her career and helped her become a stronger performer. Following that, we will learn about her educational qualifications, including how she earned her Ph.D. and completed her Ph.D. concurrently with her participation in the competition.

About Tai Tzu-Ying

Tai Tzu-Ying, a world-class badminton player with an impressive trophy collection, has been smashing records since she was a toddler. Tai Tzu-Ying is a badminton player from Taiwan. She reached world No. 1 in the women's singles at the age of 22 in December 2016, and she holds the position for the longest in BWF history, with 214 weeks. Tai won the silver medal in women's singles at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, as well as gold medals at the 2017 Summer Universidad and the 2018 Asian Games. She was the winner of the BWF Superseries/World Tour Finals four times and the All-England Open three times. She has also won three Asian Championships, in 2017, 2018, and 2023.

Career

Tai's career commenced in elementary school, motivated by her father, who was a fireman and the director of the Kaohsiung city badminton committee. Tai began playing badminton in the fourth or fifth grade of primary school, and by the sixth grade, she had won the trophy in the second division and earned the ability to compete in the first-division events. She was the youngest player in the top division at the time.

Early International Career(2007-2013):

Tai made her debut on the global stage at the 2007 Vietnam International. She received silver in the Asian Junior Championships in 2009, defeating Chen Xiaojia in straight games in the final. Tai, at 15, began competing in international events in 2009. Young Tai first demonstrated her promise, when she competed at the senior level and was second at the Vietnam Open Grand Prix competition. Tai represented Chinese Taipei at the East Asian Games in December, winning a bronze medal in the women's singles and assisting the team to a silver medal finish. In July, she competed in the National Games for Kaohsiung City, reaching the quarterfinals. In the same month, she competed at the Asian Junior Championships in Malaysia and finished second, earning a silver medal. She made her debut on the big stage in 2010 when she competed in the Superseries event at the Korea Open. She competed at the World Junior Championships in Mexico in April but was forced to withdraw in the quarterfinals of the 9-16 age groups owing to injury. In June, she had the most remarkable moment of her badminton career as she earned her first Super Series final on her birthday at the Singapore Open. She began in the preliminary draw and advanced to the final, where she was defeated in straight games by Saina Nehwal. She defeated India's PV Sandhu in the final stages of the women's singles. It is, nevertheless, a difficult contest. The contest has a duration of 34 minutes. The Hyderabad girl was defeated by Chinese Tai 13-21, 16-21. Tai Tzu-Ying made history at the 2014 Asian Games by being the first shuttler to secure a badminton medal while representing Chinese Taipei, taking bronze in women's singles. She earned the bronze medal in women's singles at the Asian Badminton Championships in Wuhan, China, the next year. She reached World No. 1 in 2016 after winning Superseries championships at the Indonesia Open and the Hong Kong Open. She competed in the Rio Olympics that year but was eliminated in the round of 16. The next year, she won the Asian Badminton Championships in China by beating Japan's Akane Yamaguchi.

From 2011 to 2013, he won the Grand Prix and Superseries. Tai made a significant improvement in 2011 by beating the top-ranked player. She prevailed over Zhu Lin in the first round of the Australian Open and Wang Xin in the first round of the Indonesia Open, and in July, she defeated former world champion Lu Lan in the quarter-finals of the US Open, which was a Grand Prix Gold tournament, and beat World Junior silver medalist Sayaka Sato in the final, becoming her first global name at the age of 17. She also advanced to the semi-finals of the Canadian, Vietnamese, and French Opens, where she upset China's number one player, Wang Shixian, in the quarter-finals. Her finest successes in the first half of the 2012 season included advancing to the All England Open semi-finals and being rated as world number 16. At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Tai finished second in the women's singles, trailing Cheng Shao-chieh. The 18-year-old, rated 13th on the globe and seeded 10th, won all of her group-stage matches, including victories against Anu Nieminen of Finland and Victoria Montero of Mexico. In the Olympic round of 16, she was halted by eventual gold winner Li Xuerui of China.

She won her maiden Superseries championship in the Japan Open in September, becoming the youngest contestant to do so (now the third youngest player, behind Ratchanok Intanon, who earned the India Open in 2013, and Akane Yamaguchi, who received the Japan Open in 2013). Her triumph in Japan and more outstanding play, with important wins over some of the best players, were expected to propel her to the high echelons and the future of the women's game. She obtained the Chinese Taipei Open in October, defeating Lindaweni Fanetri in a tough rubber game 21-19, 20-22, 22-20. She participated as the top-seeded athlete in the World Junior Championships in Chiba, Japan, in November, but lost in the quarterfinals to Sun Yu.

In August 2013, she was hired by the Indian Badminton League side Banga Beats to perform for them. She overcame Sung Ji-Hyun and Porntip Buranaprasertsuk in the 2013 BWF Super Series Masters Finals but succumbed to Wang Shixian. She advanced to the semifinals and defeated Wang Shixian to make amends for her loss. She finished second after losing to Li Xuerui in the final.

2014-2015:

Asian bronze medalist and Superseries Finals champion Tai portrayed Taiwan in the 2014 Asian Games, where she finished third and earned Taiwan's first badminton medal. She received the award at the Hong Kong Open in 2014, defeating Japan's Nozomi Okuhara in straight games, 21-19, 21-11. She prolonged her undefeated streak to the Superseries Finals in Dubai, where she claimed the first title for Taiwan by defeating Korea's Sung Ji-Hyun in straight games. Sun Yu defeated her at the Singapore Open in 2015. That year, she failed to win any championships.

2016: World #1

Tai won the Indonesia Open and the Hong Kong Open in 2016, propelling her to World No. 1 for the very first time in her professional life. She became the second women's singles player (after Li Xuerui in 2012 and 2013) to win the Superseries Finals in Dubai for the second time. She also achieved history as the first woman's singles player to make it to the Superseries Finals three times.

2017: Asian Champion and Sixth Super Series Championship in a Row

Tai revealed her intention to boycott the 2017 World Championships in Glasgow before the season began. Tai chose to compete in the 2017 Summer Universiade not just to win a championship for her native nation but also for the wider picture. Tai was interested in introducing the world to Taiwan because the Summer Universiade was by far the largest sports event hosted in her native nation, just second to the Olympic Games. Tai's action was praised by President Tsai. In the 2017 Sports Elite Awards, she received the Special Contribution Award.

In March 2017, Tai won her maiden All England Open championship, defeating Ratchanok Intanon in the finals. Tai won the Malaysia Open and the Singapore Open in April, defeating Carolina Marn in the finals both times in two weeks. Her victories in Malaysia and Singapore were her fourth and fifth in a row, respectively. Later that same month, she triumphed in her sixth straight championship, defeating Akane Yamaguchi at the Asian Championships in Wuhan, China. After winning three matches for her nation in the 2017 Sudirman Cup, Tai prolonged her winning run to 27 matches before falling in the quarterfinals to Thailand's Nitchaon Jindapol.

2018-2019:

Asian Games gold medalist, second All-England champion, and Asian champion Tai compete in the Yonex Chinese Taipei Open 2018. Tai began her season in 2018 by competing at the Malaysian Masters, where she beat Chen Yufei in the quarterfinals and Carolina Marn in a thrilling semi-final, recovering from a game down, but losing to Ratchanok Intanon in the final. A week later, she won the Indonesia Masters after beating India's Saina Nehwal. Tai was unable to defend her 2017 Singapore Open title due to competition postponement and hence lost the world number-one status to Japan's Akane Yamaguchi. But in her following competition, the Asian Championships, she reclaimed her world number-one status after defeating Chen Yufei in the final in Wuhan. She eliminated Beiwen Zhang of the United States in straight games (21-19, 21-14) in the third round of the 2018 BWF World Championships, breaking the mark for the longest streak of victories with 31 successive matches won (Indonesia Masters, All England Open, Asian Championships, Uber Cup, Malaysia Open, Indonesia Open, BWF World Championships), while the previous record of 30 wins was held by Li Xuerui of China. She was defeated in the following round by China's He Bingjiao, 18-21, 21-7, 13-21.

She earned the gold medal at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta after defeating P. V. Sindhu in straight games in the final, becoming her first major championship in her career. Her ranking points increased to 101,517 after winning the women's singles title at the 2018 Denmark Open. She became the second player in the women's singles category to reach 100,000 points, trailing only Li Xuerui of China, who had 101,644 points. Though she failed in the last game of the 2018 French Open, she retained her title with 9,350 points. After subtracting her 9,200 points from the 2017 French Open, her points totaled 101,667, making her the highest point owner in the women's singles division ever. Tai advanced to the World Tour Finals and was assigned the #1 seed. She was assigned to Group A for the group stage, along with Akane Yamaguchi, P. V. Sindhu, and Beiwen Zhang.

She overcame Zhang 21-15, 21-17 in her first match, but fell short of points against Sindhu 21-14, 16-21, 18-21 in her second. She nevertheless decided to withdraw with an injury in her third group stage match against Yamaguchi after losing the first game 17-21 and trailing 12-11 in the second. Tai didn't say anything about the reason for the injury or how it happened. In 2019, she surpassed the Malaysia Masters quarterfinals before falling in straight games against the previous year's opponent and arch-rival Ratchanok Intanon. In March, she reached the final of the All-England Open for the third time in a row, although she was defeated by the Chinese Chen Yufei, who had previously defeated her 11 times. She returned to win back-to-back championships at the Malaysia Open and Singapore Open, defeating Japanese Akane Yamaguchi and Nozomi Okuhara in straight games in the finals. She did not manage to retain her Indonesia Open championship in July after falling in the semi-finals against Akane Yamaguchi. Her misfortune at the World Championships remained as she fell in the quarterfinals to P. V. Sindhu of India in three games: 21-12, 21-23, and 19-21. This was her fifth consecutive World Championships quarter-final defeat. She advanced to the final of the China Open, where she was defeated in three games by the insurgent Carolina Marn. She advanced to the Korea Open semi-finals. She won her third championship of the year at the Denmark Open, where she also defended her title. She defeated Nozomi Okuhara in three games. She maintained her strong form, reaching the semi-finals of the French Open and the Fuzhou China Open. She took part in the World Tour Finals. She defeated Ratchanok Intanon and Busanan Ongbamrungphan in the group round to secure a semi-final place. She took revenge for her Group Stage defeat to Nozomi Okuhara in the semi-finals and achieved the final for the third time in three years. Despite a strong effort, she couldn't hold her own against Chen Yufei and lost the final 21-12, 12-21, 17-21.

2020-2021:

Tai opened the year by participating as the first seed at the Malaysia Masters. She ended second after losing in straight games against Chen Yufei. She earned the All England Open for the third time this year in her fourth consecutive final, earning only the second female player, after Ye Zhaoying (1996-99), to win three titles by competing in four continuous finals in this competition. She defeated Chen Yufei in the final with a score of 21-19, 21-15, avenging her setback to Chen at this point last year. She had to compromise for second place after failing in straight games against Carolina Marn in both of the Thailand Open Super 1000 tournaments in January 2021. She ultimately overcame Marn in the BWF World Tour Finals, her fifth end-of-season championship final, and won it for the third time. She triumphed over her rival in three separate matches. Tai is the BWF Female Player of the Year for 2020-2021. Tai Tzu Ying won the All England 2020 and then went on to dominate the three-tournament Asian Leg in January 2021, reaching all three finals and winning the BWF World Tour Finals 2020. Tai then advanced to the finals of the Tokyo Olympics, where she was beaten by top seed Chen Yufei in an exciting match, 18-21, 21-19, 18-21.

Playing Style

Tai Tzu-Ying's peculiar manner of playing is one of her most distinguishing features. She is well-known for her cunning and surprising shots, and she has an incredible ability to keep opponents guessing. Her outstanding racquet abilities, quick movement, and exceptional court coverage make her a fearsome opponent, sometimes leaving opponents unable to predict her next play. She is a highly competitive player with a wide range of strokes and angles who is capable of hitting the shuttle from almost anywhere. Tai has a strong backhand and outstanding net play, but her major flaw is that she can be inconsistent at times. She is also well-known for her resilience and agility. According to a study of badminton players' technical features, Tai Tzu Ying's playing style is more aggressive, and she employs a lot of slices to make her competitors react passively. In the center court, she is equally defensive, preventing the opponent's clear with blocks. Tai Tzu-ying's playing style is distinctive and entertaining to see, making her a once-in-a-generation athlete. Despite her penchant for playing slowly to build up shots, Tai has registered quick smashes, with one of the fastest documented being 366 km/h in the 2017 Malaysia Open Final. Many have praised Tai's enormous skill and tricky shot-making, including BWF analyst Gillian Clark, who frequently praises her exceptional shot-making and has stated that Tai is one of the finest players to pay attention to in women's singles.

Criticism

Tai Tzu-ying's playing style is risky and aggressive, which might lead to certain dangers in her game. Among the dangers she faces are:

1. Attempting High-Risk Shots
   Tai Tzu-Ying frequently takes high-risk shots rather than playing them safe, which might lead to mistakes if her strategies are not implemented flawlessly.
2. Losing Focus,
   Tai Tzu-Ying has a history of losing focus during matches, allowing her challengers to attempt a comeback.
3. Inconsistency
   Despite her apparent skill, Tai Tzu-Ying may be inconsistent at times, which can have an impact on her performance under pressure. Despite these dangers, Tai Tzu-ying's distinctive and expressive playing style continues to attract viewers and establish her as a powerful force in badminton.

Tai Tzu Ying's Coach

A coach is essential for every athlete. Without a coach, the performer will struggle to be a top-level player. Tai's father realized it completely. As a result, he suggests that Tai Tzu Ying's training partner, Lai Chien Cheng, become her full-time coach. Lai Chien Cheng will officially take over as Tai Tzu Ying's whole-time coach in February 2015. Together with her physiotherapist, Chen Ying Xuan, they formed a formidable combination. Lai Chien Cheng became the head coach of the Chinese Taipei National Team at the end of 2018. He took over as head coach in February 2019 and served until the Tokyo Olympics in 2020. As a result, he was unavailable to act as Tai Tzu Ying's permanent coach. Then comes Wan Chia Hsin to take over as Tai Tzu Ying's coach. He and Lai Chien Cheng collaborated to offer Tai Tzu Ying the finest training. Unfortunately, due to an injury sustained at the end of 2018, Tai Tzu Ying's game in 2019 suffered a severe fall. Lai Chien Cheng was worried about it. After the Korea Open 2019, he chose to quit his post as national team head coach to concentrate solely on Tai Tzu Ying. Together with Wang Shih Ting, her new physiotherapist, and Fan Tsang Yu, her physical instructor, he and Wan Chia Hsin did everything they could to help Tai Tzu Ying achieve her objective.

Tai Tzu Ying Earns Ph.D.

Tai Tzu-ying, Taiwan's badminton queen has earned the title "Dr. Tai" as a badminton scholar. Tai got a PhD from the Graduate Institute of Sports Training at the age of 27 at the University of Taipei's graduation ceremony on Monday, June 13, 2022. Tai has dedicated her whole academic career to the University of Taipei, where she has received a bachelor's, master's, and now a doctorate. Tai Tzu-Ying has a solid educational foundation. Even though Tai frequently travels abroad to play in badminton competitions, she has managed to continue her education through attending online courses and distance learning. Despite the demands of the world badminton tour, Tai completed her Ph.D. program on time. Tai has been handling a hectic schedule in preparation for the Indonesia Open 2022, which begins on Tuesday (June 14). Tai finished the final oral test for her doctoral thesis on June 9, just one day before leaving for Jakarta last week. Because Tai was unable to make it to the graduation ceremony on Monday, a modest ceremony was organized last week in her honor, replete with a cap, gown, and certificate. Tai also prepared a graduation speech in which she remarked, "Although athletics are extremely difficult, you must not neglect your studies." Increasing your expertise will also benefit your sporting career. You can approach challenges from a more scientific standpoint. When faced with adversity, you might cry and feel sorrowful, but you must never give up. I feel that if you continue with it, you will never have any remorse in the future. We only have one life, so let's make it count."

The news agency quoted Chen Yi-Liang, director of the Graduate Institute of Sports Training and Tai's superior for her Master's and Ph.D. studies, as saying, "In the past few years of coaching Tzu-Ying, I have discovered that she is a highly driven individual who is responsible, self-disciplined, and excellent at managing her time." Thankfully, many competitions have been canceled as a result of the pandemic during the last three years. Tzu-Ying has actively completed her education throughout this period.