AMAZING ‘TAI FIVE’ – SINGLES FINALS: OUE SINGAPORE OPEN 2017 TEXT BY GAYLE ALLEYNE | BADMINTONPHOTO
Like a runaway train, Tai Tzu Ying gathered further momentum this evening, speeding to her fifth successive title on the MetLife BWF World Superseries tour – and at the same time, obliterating her nearest Women’s Singles rival.
Despite her great form and sizzling strokes over the past week, Carolina Marin faltered and failed when it counted most as Tai answered the question of whether she could withstand the Spaniard’s challenge for a second straight week, wresting the OUE Singapore Open 2017 title, 21-15 21-15.
Timing her acceleration to perfection, 22-year-old conjured up some of her trademark wizardry to pull away at 14-14 in the first game and again put ‘pedal to the metal’ at 8-8 in the second while the left-hander across the net spluttered and faded into the distance. Uncharacteristically, a desperate Marin sprayed shots wider and wider, if not into the net, and later admitted that, for the first time in her star-studded career, she struggled with a “negative” state of mind.
“I was just out (of it). I didn’t think about what I had to do. This wasn’t good. I tried to keep going and remain confident that I can do it, but I couldn’t. Today, it wasn’t possible,” said the player known for her mental fortitude.
By contrast, applause and cheers echoed around Singapore Indoor Stadium for the confident and sparkling strokes by Chinese Taipei’s Tai who, as usual, took her first victory in the Lion City humble stride and was almost equally relaxed about her unbeaten Superseries run which has seen her atop the podium in Hong Kong, Dubai, Birmingham (All England) and Kuching (Malaysia) prior to arriving in Singapore.
“I’ve not thought too much about winning these five tournaments. I think everyone around me is more concerned about these five titles. But for me, I just want to play well in every tournament,” said the champion.
“In every competition, I hope to discover and learn from my weaknesses, to train and correct them.”
Of the match, she said it seemed Marin was “in a rush” to score and therefore made a lot of errors, whereas Tai was patient though she tried to get into the match from the outset.
“I thought I would have a long match because last week we played three games that lasted 80 minutes which was incredible. I prepared myself to play for more than an hour today, but I was consistent and she made many mistakes.”
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