# Tai Tzu-ying (戴资颖)
**Tai Tzu-ying** (戴资颖; born 1994) is a retired Taiwanese badminton player who competed for [Chinese Taipei](https://www.edgepedia.org/chinese-taipei) in women's singles, won the silver medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, and held the world No. 1 ranking for a record 214 weeks[1](https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/125109) • [2](https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/news/6239505). She was the first Taiwanese player to reach world No. 1, and she announced her retirement in November 2025 at the age of 31[3](https://thepeninsulaqatar.com/article/08/11/2025/taiwan-badminton-star-tai-tzu-ying-announces-retirement).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1994, Kaohsiung[1](https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/125109) |
| Height | 163 cm[1](https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/125109) |
| World ranking | No. 1 first in late 2016; 214 weeks in total, a record[3](https://thepeninsulaqatar.com/article/08/11/2025/taiwan-badminton-star-tai-tzu-ying-announces-retirement) |
| Olympic results | 2012 and 2016 tied 9th; 2020 silver; 2024 tied 14th[1](https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/125109) |
| Major titles | 2018 Asian Games gold; three All England titles; three Asian Championships titles; three season-ending finals titles[2](https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/news/6239505) • [4](https://www.redbull.com/us-en/athlete/tai-tzu-ying) |
| World Championships | Silver in 2021, losing the final to Akane Yamaguchi[5](https://www.badmintonplanet.com/badminton-news/18838-akane-yamaguchi-beats-tai-tzu-ying-win-2021-bwf-world-championships.html) |
| Retired | November 2025, announced on Facebook[3](https://thepeninsulaqatar.com/article/08/11/2025/taiwan-badminton-star-tai-tzu-ying-announces-retirement) |
## Early career
Tai was born in [Kaohsiung](https://www.edgepedia.org/kaohsiung) in 1994[1](https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/125109). She took up badminton in elementary school, and by the sixth grade she was the youngest player in Taiwan's top division[2](https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/news/6239505). She joined the international circuit in 2009 and won her first professional title at the 2011 US Open[2](https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/news/6239505). At her first Olympics, London 2012, she finished tied for ninth, a result she repeated at Rio 2016[1](https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/125109).
In 2014 she became the first Taiwanese player to win the season-ending finals of the world circuit[2](https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/news/6239505). She won that end-of-season title again in Dubai, where she also confirmed the world No. 1 ranking she had first reached in 2016, and a third time in 2020, beating her long-time rival [Carolina Marín](https://www.edgepedia.org/carolina-marin)[4](https://www.redbull.com/us-en/athlete/tai-tzu-ying).
## World No. 1
Tai first became world No. 1 in late 2016, the first Taiwanese player to do so, and regained the top ranking three more times between 2018 and 2020[3](https://thepeninsulaqatar.com/article/08/11/2025/taiwan-badminton-star-tai-tzu-ying-announces-retirement). Her 214 weeks at the top are a record[3](https://thepeninsulaqatar.com/article/08/11/2025/taiwan-badminton-star-tai-tzu-ying-announces-retirement). Over her career she put together a 27-match winning streak and won three All England Open titles, the third in 2020[2](https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/news/6239505) • [4](https://www.redbull.com/us-en/athlete/tai-tzu-ying). She was also a three-time Asian champion[3](https://thepeninsulaqatar.com/article/08/11/2025/taiwan-badminton-star-tai-tzu-ying-announces-retirement).
**Asian Games.** At the 2018 [Asian Games](https://www.edgepedia.org/asian-games) in Jakarta she beat India's P. V. Sindhu 21–13, 21–16 in a 34-minute women's singles final[6](https://www.badmintonplanet.com/?p=12635). The win was the 13th gold medal for Chinese Taipei at those Games, and Taiwan's first Asian Games gold in badminton[6](https://www.badmintonplanet.com/?p=12635) • [2](https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/news/6239505).
## Olympic and world finals
At the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, held in 2021, Tai won the women's singles silver medal[1](https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/125109). Later that year, at the World Championships in Huelva, Spain, she reached the final as world No. 1 and lost 21–14, 21–11 to Japan's Akane Yamaguchi, missing the chance to become the first Taiwanese women's singles player to win the world title[5](https://www.badmintonplanet.com/badminton-news/18838-akane-yamaguchi-beats-tai-tzu-ying-win-2021-bwf-world-championships.html).
## Injuries and retirement
In April 2023 Tai said she planned to retire at the end of 2024[7](https://focustaiwan.tw/sports/202304090005). Her last title came at the India Open in 2024[2](https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/news/6239505). A knee injury that began in late 2023 kept affecting her results, including at the Paris 2024 Olympics, where she went out in the group stage and finished tied for 14th[2](https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/news/6239505) • [1](https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/125109). She called Paris the toughest time of her career, and she later had surgery and long rehabilitation on both legs[3](https://thepeninsulaqatar.com/article/08/11/2025/taiwan-badminton-star-tai-tzu-ying-announces-retirement).
She announced her retirement in a Facebook post late on a Friday in November 2025, writing that the "TTY era" had come to an end[3](https://thepeninsulaqatar.com/article/08/11/2025/taiwan-badminton-star-tai-tzu-ying-announces-retirement). She chose not to hold a farewell ceremony, saying she did not want fans to see her at her most vulnerable[2](https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/news/6239505). World No. 1 [An Se-young](https://www.edgepedia.org/an-se-young) and Thailand's Ratchanok Intanon sent congratulations, and Taiwan's sports minister [Lee Yang](https://www.edgepedia.org/lee-yang), an Olympic gold medalist and her former national teammate, called that time a special period in his life[2](https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/news/6239505).
## References
1. [Tai Tzu-Ying, Olympedia](https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/125109)
2. [Taiwan badminton star Tai Tzu-ying retires, Taiwan News](https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/news/6239505)
3. [Taiwan badminton star Tai Tzu-ying announces retirement, The Peninsula (AFP)](https://thepeninsulaqatar.com/article/08/11/2025/taiwan-badminton-star-tai-tzu-ying-announces-retirement)
4. [Tai Tzu-ying, Red Bull athlete profile](https://www.redbull.com/us-en/athlete/tai-tzu-ying)
5. [Akane Yamaguchi beats Tai Tzu Ying to win the 2021 BWF World Championships, Badminton Planet](https://www.badmintonplanet.com/badminton-news/18838-akane-yamaguchi-beats-tai-tzu-ying-win-2021-bwf-world-championships.html)
6. [Tai Tzu Ying beats PV Sindhu for Asian Games badminton women's singles gold, Badminton Planet](https://www.badmintonplanet.com/?p=12635)
7. [Taiwan's badminton ace Tai Tzu-ying plans to retire at end of 2024, Focus Taiwan](https://focustaiwan.tw/sports/202304090005)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Sports, games, and recreation › Other team and ball sports › Racket and precision ball sports › Badminton › Badminton players, teams, and governance › Badminton players of East and Southeast Asia*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Sep 18, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 17, 2026; Sep 18, 2026; Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 11, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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