Tai Tzu Ying ousts Sayaka Sato to claim Women’s Singles title at the US Open Grand Prix Gold 2011
Chinese Taipei’s Tai Tzu Ying claimed the Women’s Singles title after defeating Japan’s Sayaka Sato in the final showdown of the US Open Grand Prix Gold 2011, in California, USA, on Saturday, July 16.
The un-seeded Tai Tzu stunned the eighth seed Japanese in a thrilling rubber-set fight, which took 47 minutes of top-class badminton from both female shuttlers.
World Number 24, Tai Tzu, played superb badminton in the first set, where she controlled the pace of the game and put her opponent under pressure by playing with aggression. She was playing with precision and avoided playing risky strokes by targeting the
side lines in the court.
The positive play of Tai Tzu earned her a strong position in the first set against Sayaka, who committed many errors by playing a confused game. The Taipei shuttler took 17 minutes to win the opening set by a 21-16 margin.
In the second game, World Number 19, Sayaka, lifted her level of play by putting more power in her shots. She changed her technique and started to execute attacking clears coupled with cross-court semi-smashes. Her changed strategy worked well, as she remained
close to her rival until the ending phase of the second game.
Sayaka played smart badminton in the concluding part of the second set, as she executed her strokes in the right areas accurately. Tai Tzu failed to play well in the end of the second game and lost it with a narrow difference of 19-21, in 18 minutes.
In the third and final set of the encounter, Tai Tzu stunned everyone present in the indoor arena at Orange, by playing badminton of the highest class. Sayaka was completely helpless against the perfection of her challenger, who was not missing event a single
shot to earn crucial points.
Tai Tzu made no mistake in the entire game and won it by a stunning score of 21-6, in only 12 minutes. The final result of this entertaining 47-minute contest was 21-16, 19-21 and 21-6.
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