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進入《TAIPEI TIMES》 Taiwan’s Tai beats Japan’s Yamaguchi for fourth Open title
Taiwan’s Tai Zhu-ying celebrates winning the Malaysia Open women’s singles final against Akane Yamaguchi of Japan in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. Photo: EPA-EFE
By Shelley Shan / Staff reporter
World No. 1 badminton player Tai Tzu-ying of Taiwan yesterday defended her title at the Malaysia Open, defeating opponent Akane Yamaguchi of Japan 21-16, 21-19.
The win was Tai’s fourth Malaysia Open title after winning in 2013, 2017 and last year.
Tai is the fifth female player to have secured three consecutive Badminton World Federation singles titles in Tour Super 750 tournaments. China’s Zhang Ning is the previous player to accomplish the feat, after winning titles in 2004, 2005 and 2006.
The 24-year-old Tai, who had won eight of her past 14 games against world No. 4 Yamaguchi, had momentum on her side going into the championship match.
Tai on Saturday beat world No. 2 Chen Yufei of China 21-14, 21-19 in 34 minutes, after Chen had denied Tai the chance to defend her title at last month’s All England Open Badminton Championships.
In the final, Tai obtained a 6-1 lead at the start of the first set by keeping Yamaguchi on the move with lifts, drops and net shots. Yamaguchi fought hard to keep up, but Tai gained an 11-8 lead by the technical break and won the set 21-16.
In the second set, Yamaguchi took advantage of Tai’s errors to gain an 11-10 lead before the technical break, but Tai battled her way to a 19-19 tie before sealing the victory with a drop shot hit diagonally across the court and a net shot.
The title in Malaysia solidifies Tai’s world No. 1 ranking for the 122nd week, tying a record first set by Zhang.
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
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