Taiwan badminton ace Tai Tzu-ying ends Olympic career with loss

台灣羽球名將戴資穎以失利結束奧運生涯

Knee injury limits Tai's mobility in group play match and may cap storied athletic career


TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan’s most accomplished female badminton competitor, Tai Tzu-ying (戴資穎), ended her storied Olympic run and potentially her professional career with a loss to longtime rival, Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon, in group play on Wednesday (July 31) in two straight games, 21-19 and 21-15.

Throughout the brief match, Tai seemed to struggle with a lingering right knee injury that first began at the end of last year. Before the Olympics, Tai announced that this would be her final year of professional competition.

After her loss to Intanon, the two clasped hands at center court, with Tai unexpectedly bursting into tears. After the match, Tai said, "I thought I would not be able to compete, but now I am very satisfied that I was able to step onto the court,” per CNA.

Tai’s knee injury worsened in the spring, and she has not played competitively since the Thomas Cup at the end of May. During the Olympic competition, she wore thick knee braces on both knees, which affected her overall mobility and speed.

When asked about her knee injury by local media, Tai could not hold back her tears and said that in addition to the knee, she had other injuries. She said that in the past few months, "I have been emotionally unstable, but my team and Dr. Lin Yin-chou (林瀛洲) inspired me and I continued active treatment, so naturally, I couldn’t give up on myself.”

After the loss, Tai covered her head with a towel and sobbed on the sidelines. She admitted some regrets but felt proud of her final Olympic performance.

Tai received a warm round of applause from supporters in the audience. She said, "Before setting off for the Olympics, many people told me to come back with a gold medal, but I knew I could not do it. This led me to feel some complicated emotions.”

Tai said that after competing in two Olympics, her results were both good and bad. "I am grateful to everyone who has helped me along the way. At least I tried my best in this Olympics."

Tai turned 30 this year and has been training professionally since the age of 9. Tai holds the record for the longest stay as the top women’s badminton competitor ranked by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) for 214 consecutive weeks ending in December 2016. She also won silver at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.