Taiwanese shuttler Tai Tzu-ying (戴資穎) lost to He Bingjiao (何冰嬌) of China 15-21, 10-21 in the YONEX French Open 2022 semifinal on Saturday, failing to clinch her fourth title this year.
World No. 8 He sped off to an 11-4 lead, and even though Tai managed to rebound and gain seven consecutive points, she was unable to turn the situation around and lost the opening game.
In the second game, an out-of-sorts Tai trailed behind 1-7 before losing eight straight shots to He to reach 7-20, and she finally fell in the 37-minute match.
World No. 2 Tai told CNA that she was not in good shape and “felt unwell,” but will try to regain her form before the BWF World Tour Finals in Guangzhou, China begins on Dec. 14.
Tai thanked her fans for defying jet lag to support her throughout the tournament.
Despite the defeat, Tai still holds an edge in her head-to-head meetings with He by beating her 10 times in 13 games.
Tai won the Thailand Open, Indonesia Open and Taipei Open in May, June and July this year, respectively, and had won the French Open in 2017.
He will face Carolina Marin on Sunday after the Spaniard dethroned Akane Yamaguchi of Japan in straight games.
Meanwhile, Taiwan’s Lu Ching-yao (盧敬堯) and Yang Po-han (楊博涵) beat England’s Ben Lane and Sean Vendy 21-15, 21-14 in the men’s doubles semifinal at the French Open on Saturday.
The world No. 25 duo will meet Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty of India in the final on Sunday.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel