Taiwanese badminton star Tai Tzu-ying (???) sailed though to the quarterfinals of the women's singles at the Malaysia Masters 2022 on Thursday, with a 2-1 win over a player from the host country.
In a match that lasted only 42 minutes, Tai crushed Malaysian Goh Jin Wei (???) 16-21, 21-7, 21-9 at the Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur.
Tai, the world No. 2, got off to a rocky start, trailing her opponent 2-8, and she failed to catch up before the end of the first game, which Goh won 16-21.
When Tai began the second game, however, her play became much more aggressive, and she took a 14-1 lead. Keeping a fiery pace, she yielded only another six points to Goh and finished 21-7.
The Taiwanese cruised to an easy 21-9 win in the third game, romping home to a 2-1 victory in the match and thus advancing to the quarterfinals of the tournament.
It was the second head-to-head encounter between Tai and Goh, after the 2018 Malaysia Open quarterfinals, in which the Taiwanese also prevailed.
Tai's next match at the Malaysia Masters 2022 will be against Pusarla V. Sindhu of India in the quarterfinals.
The Malaysia Masters, which is being held until July 10, is a Badminton World Federation (BWF) Super 500 tournament that carries a total purse of US$360,000.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel