Playing freely helps Tai Tzu-ying end losing run against An Se-young and reach final

HANGZHOU – When Tai Tzu-ying lost the first game of her semi-final clash against An Se-young at the Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour Finals on Dec 16, she must have thought that history would be repeating itself.

After all, the world No. 4 from Chinese Taipei already had a taste of defeat against An at the US$2.5 million (S$3.3 million) season-ending tournament when she lost to the top-ranked South Korean 21-17, 21-15 in their Group A fixture a day earlier.

That was the ninth time that Tai had fallen to An in their last 10 meetings, with her sole victory during that spell coming at the Badminton Asia Championships in April. Hence, a second victory in 11 would simply be going against the odds.

But that was exactly what happened at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Expo Centre, where, after losing the first game 19-21, she fought back to beat An 21-15, 22-20 to seal a spot in the final.

“I actually didn’t change much of my game (from yesterday),” Tai said.

“Because I was trailing by a lot, so I thought I would just play with an open mind. There was a big difference in the score, and my condition was not the best, and I felt that it was better to play more freely (and not give myself any pressure).

“In the end I was quite surprised I won, because An doesn’t make a lot of mistakes.

“Both of us are carrying injuries. I feel like she’s not as agile as she usually is. In the end, it was a matter of who’s stronger mentally and more determined. We refused to give up.”

Following her first-game loss, Tai continued to make mistakes in the second and fell to a 1-5 deficit. She regained her composure to tie 6-6, before eventually winning 21-15.

An then dictated the tempo of the deciding game, charging all the way to a 10-3 lead. But Tai refused to give up and showed her resilience even when she later trailed by a massive nine points at 10-19.

The 29-year-old had more experience than her 21-year-old opponent – even though An is the reigning world champion – and she reversed the situation with a 12-1 run. Crucially, she held firm at 16-20 and reeled off six straight points to win 22-20.

“I don’t remember the last time I made such a comeback,” added Tai, who ended a six-match losing run against the South Korean.

A disappointed An, who had been struggling with a knee injury, said: “I don’t know what happened – I’m just upset I lost it. Tai played very well and was steady even though I had a big lead.”

Tai, an Olympic silver medallist who has also bagged a silver and bronze at the world championships, had previously won the BWF World Tour Finals in 2020.

She had also won in 2014 and 2016, when the tournament was called the BWF Super Series Finals.

Tai will clinch her fourth title if she wins the Dec 17 final against Spain’s 2016 Olympic champion Carolina Marin, whom she had beaten in the 2020 final.

Marin also needed three games to seal her spot in the final, winning 21-17, 19-21, 21-13 against China’s Tokyo 2020 winner and Hangzhou native Chen Yufei. It was her second win over Chen in as many days.

The final will be evenly poised with Tai and Marin having won 11 times each in their head-to-head record.

The last time they met was in the Denmark Open quarter-finals in October, when the Spaniard won 19-21, 21-15, 21-18 before losing to Chen in the final.

In the men’s semi-finals, China’s Shi Yuqi defeated Indonesia’s Jonatan Christie 21-16, 21-15 and will face defending champion and world No. 1 Viktor Axelsen, who cruised to a 21-9, 21-14 win over compatriot Anders Antonsen.

Shi will be hoping for a repeat of his group-stage victory on Dec 13 over the Danish giant.

It will be an all-China affair in the mixed doubles final, with defending champions Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong meeting Feng Yanzhe and Huang Dongping.

In the men’s doubles final, China’s Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang will meet South Korea’s world champions Seo Seung-jae and Kang Min-hyuk.

The women’s doubles final will pit China’s Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan against South Korea’s Baek Ha-na and Lee So-hee.