Top seed Tai beats All England champion Okuhara in quarter-finals
Top seed Tai beats All England champion Okuhara in quarter-finals
Top seed Tai Tzu-ying justified her billing at the All England badminton championships with a ruthless quarter-final win over reigning champion Nozomi Okuhara in Birmingham on Friday.
The world number one from Taiwan took just 35 minutes to defeat her Japanese opponent 21-10, 21-11.
"I did not expect to win so convincingly," the 27-year-old told the tournament's website following a decisive success.
Tai, beaten in December's World Championship final in Spain by Japan's Akane Yamaguchi, added: "It's always tough when you play Japanese players because you have to concentrate on every point. I'm most pleased that I did not make any mistakes."
Okuhara won her first singles title at the All England, one of badminton's most prestigious events, six years ago but has been hampered recently by ankle injuries.
"My physical condition is not good enough," said Okuhara, "She was too fast for me."
Tai will play An Se-young in the semi-finals after the South Korean saw off Iris Wang 21-10, 21-18.
"It's a dream come true to be in the semi-finals," said the 20-year-old.
"It's an honour to compete in such a big arena with players from all nations and I will do my best to play well."
J.Becker--MP
