Tokyo Olympics: Who will PV Sindhu meet in the semi-finals?

The No. 1 female shuttler in the world, Tai Tzu-Ying from Chinese Taipei survived a thriller and moved into the semi-finals at the Tokyo Olympics after defeating Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand in quite the nail-biter, before winning 21-14, 18-21, 18-21 in 66 minutes. She is now set to face India's ace female shuttler, PV Sindhu in her semi-final encounter which is much awaited by all the Indian fans. Let's know a little more about the 2nd seeded badminton player at the Tokyo Olympics.

Who is Tai Tzu-ying?

Born in 1994, Ying is a professional Taiwanese shuttler who achieved the feat of becoming World No. 1 at the age of 22. Her career in badminton started at a very early age when she became the youngest player in various national championships. She began playing the game from her fifth grade and it took her no time to win the Asian Junior Championships in the year 2009.

How does Tai dominate her players?

A diversified pack of shots that are unpredictable is the style of this 27-year old who believes in an offensive game. Her disguised smashes are hard to beat. With a strong backhand and fabulous net play, she carries great stamina and shows athleticism on the court. She is the one to watch out for as she can trick you with her undisclosed gameplay and fast footwork. The only weakness in her game is her inconsistency.

What are some of Tai Tzu-ying's achievements and ambitions?

The Chinese Taipei shuttler's ambition is to win an Olympic medal and she will go at it with full force. Her past achievements convey the story of a champion as she plans to script history for her homeland. Some of her biggest achievements are:

• 2018 Asian Games Gold medallist
• 2017 & 2018 Asian Championship Gold Medallist
• 2017 Summer Universiade Gold Medallist
• 2012 World University Champion
• 11 titles & 8 runner-ups on the BWF World Tour
• BWF Superseries 12 titles and 6 times runner up
• BWF Grand Prix 3 titles and 2 times runner up

Other than this, she has won silver and bronze medals at various other events and has overpowered the likes of veteran shuttlers like Saina Nehwal, Carolina Marin, Chen Yufei, Nozomi Okuhara, Akane Yamaguchi, etc.

Has she achieved any milestones?

Tai Tzu holds the record for being at the top rank for a record 148 weeks (most by any player in BWF history). She has a career record of 409 wins with only 152 losses while maintaining her rankings throughout the journey.

What about her previous Olympic appearances?

Interestingly, the former and current champion in the world has appeared twice at the previous edition of the Olympics and Tokyo being her third but she hasn't been able to move past the Round of 16 stages till now. She has created history as for the very first time, she reached the stage of semis and will compete for a medal at the Olympics. At the 2012 London Olympics, she lost to Li Xuerui by 21-16, 23-21 who eventually went on to win the Olympics gold. While in Rio, PV Sindhu got the better of her by 21-13, 21-15 and she progressed to win the silver medal at the Summer Games 2016.

At the Tokyo Olympics, she topped her group with a 3-0 record win losing none of her matches. She directly made her way to the Quarterfinals based on her seed ranking.

How does she pose a problem to Sindhu?

Tai Tzu holds a competitive advantage over Sindhu as per their previous meet-ups as Tai dominates the head-to-head count 13-5 with a win percentage of 72.22% against Pusarla. Their recent match was at the BWF World Tour Finals 2020 where Sindhu lost to Ying by 21-19, 12-21, 17-21.

Since every match holds some hidden amazement, it is difficult to predict the winner but one can say that it is going to be a tight and exciting contest between the two. But we can't wait for the drama to unfurl!