THE GIRL NEXT DOOR


TAI TZU YING:


TAITZUYING THEGIRLNEXTDOOR


22-year-old Tai Tzu Ying is the new World No.1. Her friendly character, ever-joyful spirit and incredible talent have made her a sporting icon in her home country, Chinese Taipei, as well as with badminton fans around the world.


By Raphael Sachetat


She could be your next door neighbour: a joyful teenage-like young woman, always smiling, somehow shy, very polite and friendly with everyone. But Tai Tzu Ying is no ordinary girl. She is the new World No.1 after claiming Gold for the second time at the season’s grand finale, the Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Superseries Finals in Dubai, where she beat China’s rising stars He Bingjiao and Sun Yu back-to- back, as well as Korea’s top player Sung Ji Hyun to pocket the US$80,000 prize money, having previously won that same event in 2014 when she just 20 years of age.


Tzu Ying was born in Kaohsiung and from an early age she and her elder sister, also a badminton player, would go to the local badminton hall with their parents.


“My parents used to play every morning at the gym. My sister and I started playing with them when we were in kindergarten, for fun only, but when I entered third grade in primary school I started to play more competitively: I had no interest in books”, she recalls.


INTERNATIONALBADMINTONMAGAZINE March 2017 | 19 www.isportgroup.com/InternationalBadmintonMagazine


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