Dr Tai prescribed happiness for her millions of fans with this magnificent victory to reach the final of the Indonesia Open. Badminton Lovers enjoyed the exquisite pain of watching the Queen dead and buried only to witness an astonishing fightback and eventual triumph.
The first set was absolute carnage. CHEN Yu Fei assembled quick bursts of points and dominated without doing anything dramatic. She is particularly good at screwing down the pressure on opponents in these situations. Fate was working against TAI Tzu Ying as well. The umpire called a doubtful fault for touching the net at 0-3. TTY was incredulous but summoned up a Polii moment, smiled then turned away. It was looking bad and a spiral down to defeat beckoned. Before we knew it the first set was gone 10-21.
The second set was breathtaking. 0-3 down and the match was slipping away. But TTY refused to concede any easy points; she upped her pace and fought for every scrap. The Istora Senayan pulsed with excitement as the lead switched between the two players. It was unbearably stressful to watch as TTY faced down five match points, eventually closing out the set 26-24 to force a decider.
After such an extraordinary battle the third set was tranquil in comparison; TAI Tzu Ying easing through 21-12. Fans crave days like these. She is a once-in-a-generation competitor, her resilience and spirit in the second set to pull off a hair-raising escape was spectacular. Tomorrow is another day. The final and a chance to win her third Indonesia Open. Go TAI!
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