At the season-ending World Tour Finals in Bangkok on Sunday, Akane Yamaguchi, the current world champion, defeated Tai Tzu Ying to win the women’s singles badminton title.
Yamaguchi, a master of Japanese badminton, defeated her Taiwanese opponent in straight games, 21-18, 22-20.
The Tokyo Olympic silver medalist Tai struggled to keep up Yamaguchi’s pace and shot quality, making too many unforced errors.
As Yamaguchi maintained her dominance in the attack, the second was filled with impressive net exchanges and electric rallies.
As Yamaguchi got closer to the trophy and her second end-of-year championship title, Tai displayed moments of savviness, including a stunning save behind the back and a sneaky deception shot. However, she became clearly frustrated.
Tai said that her own defense had been weak and praised her opponent’s net play.
“Her speed was quicker than mine which brought about her enjoying benefit in assault,” Tai said, noticing she had committed a few errors
Short-term, in the men’s draw an anxious Viktor Axelsen was driven to the edge yet the world number one won in a long distance race semi-last against Japanese youthful weapon Kodai Naraoka to progress to the last stage.
After a surprise loss to India’s H.S. Prannoy on Friday, which was only Axelsen’s third defeat this year, it appeared as though his confidence had been shaken.
Axelsen faces Indonesian star Anthony Ginting later on Sunday, who is currently undefeated in the tournament.
With this victory, Yamaguchi also equaled her head-to-head record with the Chinese Taipei shuttler, which now stands at 10-10.
The shuttler, who is 25 years old, won his fourth title of the year. Aside from Big showdowns and World Visit Finals, she won lofty All Britain Open and Japan Open titles.
Only the top eight shuttlers and pairs in each of the five disciplines are eligible to compete in the elite category tournament known as the BWF World Tour Finals.
Yamaguchi had never before reached the Finals’ summit matchup. Her previous best result was a semifinal appearance in the 2019 competition, which P.V. Sindhu won.
No, not worldwide 3 and Olympic silver Medalist Taiau Tzu Ying, who has reached the World Tour Finals four times, finished as runner-up for the first time. did so three times: in the 2014, in 2016, and in 2020.
At the Nimibutr Arena in Bangkok on Sunday, Akane Yamaguchi defeated Tai Tzu Ying, the Three-time champion, in straight games to win her first BWF World Tour Finals women’s singles title.
The global no. 1 Japanese Shuttler Yamaguchi won the first game 21-18 and the second game 22-20 after losing her first match point, winning the BWF World Championships gold for the second time in a row in August. 46 minutes were Allotted for the match.
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