Tai Tzu Ying on Friday became the first Taiwanese shuttler in the singles category to claim the number one spot in Badminton World Federation (BWF) rankings.
The 22-year-old dislodged reigning Olympic champion Carolina Marin from the top of the pack after positive results in the ongoing season. Tai won the Hong Kong Open for the second time in her career last month when she defeated Pusarla Venkata Sindhu in straight games in the final of the Women's singles event in Kowloon.
Tai, who was placed third in the Women's singles ranking before the start of 2016's final Superseries tournament in Hong Kong, leapfrogged Marin and Thailand's Ratchanok Intanon. While she knew that she would be crowned the number one immediately after beating Sindhu in the final on Sunday, she had to to wait for the rankings to be updated on 1 December.
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"My fans kept telling me I might be able to get to the world No. 1 spot in Hong Kong if I won the tournament but this is not my main concern. I always emphasised the importance of enjoying the game as I did today," Tai said on Sunday, as quoted by The Straits Times.
It was also a sweet revenge for Tai against Sindhu, who knocked out the newly-crowned world number one in the first round of Rio Olympics 2016. Since the Games, Tai has managed to reach the final stages of Superseries tournament and was also the runner-up at October's Denmark Open. She will also be the top seed at the year-ending Superseries Masters Finals, starting in Dubai from 14 December.
On the other hand, despite losing the final against Tai in Hong Kong, Sindhu jumped two spots to seventh while her compatriot Saina Nehwal made her way back into the top-10.
In the Men's singles, Malaysia's Lee Chong Wei and China's Chen Long continue occupying the top two spots. Hong Kong Open winner Ng Ka Long broke into the top 10 after climbing five spots.
Also, India's Sameer Verma rose to a career-high 30th position after his successful outing in Hong Kong, where he reached the final of the Men's singles event.
BWF Rankings
| Men's singles | Women's singles |
| 1. Lee Chong Wei (Mas) | 1. Tai Tzu Ying (Tpe) |
| 2. Chen Long (Chn) | 2. Carolina Marin (Esp) |
| 3. Jan O Jorgensen (Den) | 3. Ratchanok Intanon (Tha) |
| 4. Viktor Axelsen (Den) | 4. Nozomi Okuhara (Jpn) |
| 5. Lin Dan (Chn) | 5. Sung Ji Hyun (Kor) |
| 6. Son Wan Ho (Kor) | 6. Sun Yu (Chn) |
| 7. Tian Houwei (Chn) | 7. PV Sindhu (Ind) |
| 8. Chou Tien Chen (Tpe) | 8. Li Xuerui (Chn) |
| 9. Ng Ka Long (Hkg) | 9. Akane Yamaguchi (Jpn) |
| 10. Shi Yuqi (Chn) | 10. Saina Nehwal (Ind) |
For complete list, click here.
