Taipei, Dec. 17 (CNA) Taiwanese badminton star Tai Tzu-ying (戴資穎) rallied from an early deficit to win the women's singles finals at the 2023 BWF World Tour Finals in Hangzhou, China on Sunday.
Tai, currently ranked fourth in the world, beat world No. 5 Carolina Marin of Spain 12-21, 21-14, 21-18 in an hour and 13 minutes, claiming a record fourth win at the final tournament of the annual BWF World Tour.
Despite the career 11-11 head-to-head record between the pair, Marin appeared to have Tai's number early in the match, aggressively attacking her opponent's backhand and working the front and back of the court in an effort to disrupt her rhythm.
After taking the first game by a comfortable 9-point margin, Marin went up 4-1 in the second before going into the mid-game break at 11-9.
After the break, however, Tai started to find her game, putting together a 6-point rally and ultimately winning the game 21-14.
In the third and final game, Tai scored on a drop shot falling just over the net to even the score at 9-9, before going into the break with an 11-10 lead.
In the game's final stretch, Tai went on another 6-point streak to take an 18-12 lead, before converting her third match point for a 21-18 victory.
With the win, the 29-year-old Taiwanese shuttler notched a record fourth BWF season-ending crown -- following those in 2014, 2016, and 2020 -- and also took home the tournament's first-place US$200,000 prize.
The performance also nets Tai an additional 12,000 BWF world ranking points, boosting her chances for a high seed at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
