Tai Tzu Ying assured herself of her first World Championships medal with a precise, mostly error-free display in the quarterfinals against defending champion Pusarla V. Sindhu.
The lack of a World Championships medal had been the one anomaly in a glittering career, and the world No.1 addressed that today with a solid performance. Having never crossed the quarterfinals at previous editions, today’s win over Pusarla was a milestone, but Tai herself was more pleased with the way she’d played rather than the fact that she’s assured herself of a medal.
The world No.1 was in fine touch, and never lost her grip on the proceedings. The Indian was kept from exerting her power game, and Tai never allowed her opponent to get a sizeable lead. Having missed one extravagant kill into the open court, Tai played more conservatively and was rewarded with the 21-17 21-13 win in 42 minutes.
“More than winning the World Championships medal, I’m happy with the way I played. I didn’t have a lot of mistakes and that makes me very happy and satisfied,” said Tai.
“In all my matches so far I have been patient, and that’s the biggest positive for me. For the next match (against He Bing Jiao), it’s important to stay patient and not make mistakes. Sindhu is a very strong player and very fast, so I had to play fast too and cover the court well.
“The most important thing for me is to overcome my own limits, to try my best in every match. And when my fans support me, that will motivate me to reach higher.”
A short while later, Kidambi Srikanth too made certain of his first World Championships medal, making the semifinals beating Dutchman Mark Caljouw 21-8 21-7.