Tai Tzu Ying stuns Eriko Hirose in Women’s Singles semi-final of the US Open Grand Prix Gold 2011
Chinese Taipei’s talented shuttler, Tai Tzu Ying, occupied her place into the title-match after beating World Number 17, Eriko Hirose of Japan in the Women’s Singles semi-final showdown at the US Open Grand Prix Gold 2011, in California, on Friday, July
15.
The un-seeded Tzu Ying surprised everyone by beating fifth seed, Hirose, in a one-sided manner as she finished-off the battle in straight games by taking just 33 minutes in the court. The Japanese could not even resist against the spirited Taipei shuttler,
who played to her maximum potential in this semi-final contest.
Tzu Ying, who has been playing superb badminton in the whole tournament, continued her aggressive run in the semi-final as she was moving in the court with incredible ease. Her smooth movement and perfect stroke placement helped her beat the Japanese shuttler,
who failed to play positive badminton.
The Taipei shuttler displayed her skills in the first set and entertained the crowd by playing smart badminton. Her placement of the strokes disturbed the flow of Hirose, who was struggling hard to find momentum against her firing opponent. Tzu Ying took
an advantage in the match against the Japanese by winning the opening set in dramatic fashion with the score of 21-10, in just 14 minutes.
However, the second game was a good fight between the two shuttlers, as Hirose lifted her level of play and remained close until the final half of the second set. In the concluding phase of the second game, Tzu Ying became more aggressive by hitting powerful
down the line smashes, which put Hirose under pressure.
Tzu Ying won the second game with a two-point gap of 21-19, in 19 minutes. She ended the 33-minute Women’s Singles semi-final battle with a 21-10 and 21-19 score on the board.
In the Women’s Singles final, Tzu Ying will be up against Japan’s Sayaka Sato, who proved her worth against the seventh seed, Inthanon Ratchanok of Thailand, in the semi-final match of the event.
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