Rising stars should keep the Chinese girls on their toes

CHINA continued their domination in the women’s singles by winning the title through Li Xuerui, who upset top-seeded compatriot Wang Yihan 21-13, 21-19 yesterday.

But their reign may soon come under serious threat with the emergence of several young talents like Taiwan’s Tai Tzu Ying, Thailand’s Inthanon Ratchanok, Japan’s Sayaka Sato and India’s P.V. Sindhu.

These shuttlers are all below 20 years of age and eagerly waiting to burst into the limelight.

All of them made an impact at the All-England, with the 17-year-old Tzu Ying the most impressive in reaching the semi-finals in only her second outing.

On Saturday, she put up a gallant fight before running out of gas, losing 21-19, 16-21, 10-21 to Li Xuerui of China in the last four.

The daughter of a firefighter, Tzu Ying, who took up badminton to escape the monotony of her studies, said she does not fear the current batch of Chinese players.

“It’s good that I made it to the semi-finals here but I’m not celebrating just yet. I want to compete in the Olympic Games and further improve my world ranking,” said the world No. 16.

“The China players are good but I can’t single out anyone as being really outstanding. They are of equal standard and my challenge now is to beat them regularly.”

Tzu Ying is thankful for having supportive parents and friends.

“My father strings all my racquets and does the hand grip for me. I have tiny stickers on my racquet with messages of encouragement from my friends. They inspire me and keep me going,” said the chirpy high school student, who has decided to give up a chance to become the world junior champion to compete in the major events.

“I love badminton and enjoy every match that I play. I don’t like studying too much and I look for every chance to play badminton. I will try my best to put Taiwan on the world map.”

Tzu Ying is currently ranked second behind her Cheng Shao-chieh in the Taiwan team.

Unlike Tzu Ying, the other three – Inthanon, Sayaka and Sindhu – did not go far at the All-England but showed enough to indicate that they are the stars of the future.

Inthanon is the highest ranked player at No. 10, followed by Sayaka (No. 15) and Sindhu (No. 29).

The emergence of these rising stars, together with Tine Baun of Denmark, Juliane Schenk of Germany and India’s Saina Nehwal, should keep the China players on their toes and make the women’s game even more competitive.