Tzu-Ying
Tai
Taiwan
·
Badminton
Tanggal Lahir | 20 Juni 1994 |
|---|---|
Tempat Lahir | Kaohsiung City |
Age | 31 |
Nationality | Taiwan |
Karir dimulai | 2009 |
Disiplin | Badminton |
There's little doubt that Tai Tzu-ying was destined to play badminton. Both her parents were regular players in their home city of Kaohsiung and her father's on the city's badminton committee. The court has been her second home since the third grade and she showed the talent that would take her to the top of the sport almost immediately, becoming the youngest-ever player to compete in Taiwan's first division.
At 15, Tai played on the international stage for the first time, finishing runner-up in that tournament and quickly garnering the reputation as a prodigy on the badminton court.
In 2012, aged just 18, Tai won the Japanese Super Series tournament, becoming the youngest ever Super Series winner at the time. Since then she's developed into one of the most successful and formidable badminton players on the pro circuit, culminating in reaching the World No.1 ranking for the very first time in 2016. She confirmed the ranking with victory in the season-ending Super Series Finals in Dubai for the second time.
Tai carried on where she left off during the following seasons as well, consistently chalking up BWF tour wins, winning the British and Malaysian Open and taking the title in the Asian Badminton Championship – the first Taiwanese player to do so.
2020 was another year to remember for Tai, who won her third All England title and then overcame long-time rival Carolina Marín to claim victory at the BWF World Tour Finals – claiming the end-of-season title for the third time.
2021 saw Tai narrowly miss out on two huge titles as she won silver medals at both the Olympics in Japan and the World Championships in Spain. The following year she would once again medal at the World Championships, this time winning bronze in Japan.
Tai would begin the 2023 season in impressive fashion as she won a fourth Asian Championships title before finishing in second at the Korean Open. In 2024, Tai took second place at the BWF World Tour in Malaysia, then followed that with a first place win at the stop in India.
In addition to these outstanding achievements, Tai's also a fan favourite thanks to her unique playing style, which is both aggressive and spontaneous and very hard to play against for opponents.
Tai's badminton-loving family are also still heavily involved in her success and her biggest supporters. Her mother is her mentor, her sister a regular training partner and her father takes care of all the logistics, allowing Tai to concentrate on training and taking Taiwanese badminton to new heights.