Month: October 2023

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TAI Tzu Ying’s 500 Wins: Excellence Unlimited

In a truly momentous milestone TAI Tzu Ying has achieved the feat of securing her 500th victory. She’s travelled a long way from the skinny kid winning her first pro match in 2007 to the worldwide icon about to grace her fourth Olympics.

2RR8TM1 Zhongguo, China’s Jiangsu Province. 7th Sep, 2023. Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei hits a return during the women’s singles second round match against Zhang Yiman of China at the 2023 China Open badminton tournament in Changzhou, east China’s Jiangsu Province, Sept. 7, 2023. Credit: Yang Lei/Xinhua/Alamy Live News

She is badminton’s once-in-a-lifetime star; beloved throughout the world, transcending her sport in the same way that Federer transcends tennis.  Dazzling deception is baked into her approach. Her exquisite shots are a shared celebration of her command of the game as her fans provide a soundtrack of delight wherever in the world she plays.

Many people have played a part in shaping her genius – it’s born of years of hard work, unfettered imagination and joy in competition.  Looking back to her formative years it was the support of her family that nurtured the spark of brilliance.  Her father introduced her to the sport and – as the story goes – took her around the smaller clubs that dot her homeland to take on adults.  She couldn’t compete equally in terms of strength, but hated losing, so she had to hone her trickery. Imagine if you had been a club player in Kaohsiung suddenly facing TTY across the net – there must be people in the city who did just this in the early days.

A hand injury suffered when she was thirteen could have been a debilitating setback.  Instead, it catalyzed the development of her extraordinary backhand skills.  As her father astutely observed, the injury proved to be a blessing in disguise.

TTY’s spontaneous panache on court has been supported by Coach LAI who understands that her flair must be nurtured rather than squashed to fit established playing styles.  Her father was key in identifying LAI as a coach on the right wavelength to look after her. The formation of her team – physio, coach, & trainer has been designed to give her support in all areas of her game.

It’s impossible to pick a favourite TAI Tzu Ying match but the series of breathtaking battles with Ratchanok Intanon over the years standout as the El Classico of the badminton world. The spectacular skills of both athletes elevate these games to thrilling contests between wonderful opponents challenging each other to reach new heights of wizardry. Read more here TAI Tzu Ying & Ratchanok Intanon: MayTAI

500 Up, more than 200 weeks as World #1 and not finished yet. Dr TAI’s zest for the game has refocused with the 2024 Paris Olympics on the horizon. It’s impossible to predict what results the next year will bring but we know that when she walks onto the court her fans will be there to clap and cheer, standing ready to support and witness the unlimited brilliance of this incredible player.

If you enjoyed this then take a look at one of my archive articles about TTY https://womensbadminton.co.uk/2022/01/29/tai-tzu-ying-200-breathtaking-weeks-as-world-1/ or this one https://womensbadminton.co.uk/2022/03/02/tai-tzu-ying-at-the-all-england/

©2025

Amanda Bloss All Rights Reserved

Arctic Open Gold for LEE Zii Jia

An all-Malaysian MS final at the Arctic open brought us the lip-smacking prospect of Spicy Chicken versus the Mushroom – or, for those less versed in Chinese nicknames: LEE Zii Jia against NG Tze Yong.   This clash not only promised an enthralling match for the neutral fan but was also an exciting advert for the depth of talent in the Malaysian team. In this high-stakes battle both players needed Gold but only one could stand at the top of the podium when Negaraku played.

2T08EMJ Hangzhou, China’s Zhejiang Province. 5th Oct, 2023. Lee Zii Jia of Malaysia competes against Prannoy Haseena Sunil Kumar of India during the Men’s Singles Quarterfinal of Badminton at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, east China’s Zhejiang Province, Oct. 5, 2023. Credit: Ren Zhenglai/Xinhua/Alamy Live News

The tenacious progress of NTY since his superb performances at the last Commonwealth Games – including his dispatch of Viktor Axelsen at this year’s All England – reveal a player who is poised to challenge the best in the world.  In contrast, LZJ has weathered a very up-and-down year and suffered an excess of unnecessary media scrutiny as a result. Nevertheless, he’s in the process of refining his game; cultivating patience and cutting errors. Game on!

Set 1: Advantage Lee Zii Jia 21-14

With a smash speed consistently higher than 410kph LZJ went full throttle courtesy of an unwilling green light from NTY. Tze Yong struggled to contain Zii Jia’s aggressive accuracy and was sucked into a reactive game that stopped him from getting any sort of foothold in the first set. It was all over in 16 minutes.

Set 2

NG Tze Yong found himself bulldozed by the sheer brutality of LEE Zii Jia’s game. Usually, he can remain composed and counter an onslaught but today he struggled for ideas against his compatriot. In the blink of an eye LZJ had charged into a 5-0 lead; he was completely dominant and enjoying the flow of his game. We only saw fleeting glimpses of what NTY is capable of. He fought to claw his way back into the match but could not halt the progress of LEE Zii Jia to a well-deserved Gold 21-15.

LEE Zii Jia came to the match planning to give Ng Tze Yong no chance to breath. It was a tough 39 minutes for NTY but his progress to the final showed his impressive growth. Meanwhile, Lee Zii Jia’s relentless attacking prowess was an exhilarating sight. What an exciting day for fans of the two players.

Edit: The two of them were actually on the podium to Queen’s We Are The Champions. I think the ‘We’ is appropriate!

If you enjoyed this then take a look at one from my archives about LZJ https://womensbadminton.co.uk/2023/07/29/lee-zii-jia-and-plan-b/

©2025

Amanda Bloss All Rights Reserved