Taipei, Jan. 31 (CNA) Taiwanese badminton players Tai Tzu-ying, Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin made history by winning the women's singles and the men's doubles titles, respectively, at the HSBC BWF World Tour Finals in Bangkok on Sunday.
In their third women's singles showdown this month, Tai, who won the title at the 2014 and 2016 end-of-season event, lost the first game 14-21 to 2016 Olympic gold medalist Carolina Marin of Spain, who won their last two meetings over the past two weeks.
However, Tai quickly gained the upper hand in the second game which she won 21-8, before the two players launched into a nail-biting third game.
As the end of the match approached, Marin pulling ahead to lead 18-19, but Tai, a finalist in the 2019 event, was not to be denied and won the next three points in a row to claim the title.
The victory also lifted Tai to number three on the list of players with the most World Tour Finals women's singles titles, according to the Badminton World Federation (BWF).
Only Susi Susanti of Indonesia and Li Lingwei of China hold more titles -- six and four, respectively, the BWF said.
Meanwhile, the world No. 6 pairing of Lee and Wang entered the final after four straight-game wins in the tournament, where they faced Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan of Indonesia, the reigning champions.
Lee and Wang quickly built an 11-4 lead during the first game which they won 21-17, but the second game was more closely fought.
The Taiwanese pair edged the game 23-21, to finish the match in 37 minutes, their quickest victory in the tournament and their third consecutive title in three weeks.
The three tournaments held by the BWF in the Thai capital have been record-breaking for the pair who teamed up in 2019 and reached the semifinals of the World Tour Finals that year.
They became the first Taiwanese men's duo to win a HSBC BWF World Tour Super 1000 event title, the highest tier event after the World Championships and Olympic Games at the Yonex Thailand open two weeks ago.
Their latest success was another first for Taiwan's male players in the season ending tournament, which was rescheduled due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
