Tai Tzu-ying believes she and PV Sindhu are roughly at the same level

What’s the story?

Former World No. 1 Tai Tzu-ying of Taiwan has said there is not much difference between her and Indian star PV Sindhu, and that on any given day either of them can emerge as the winner. The two players have developed a strong rivalry in recent years, and Tai's respect for Sindhu is clearly evident both on and off the court.

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The 25-year-old Tai holds the record for the longest run as women’s singles World No. 1, a position she occupied for 72 weeks. She also won gold at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, defeating Sindhu in the final.

PV Sindhu

The heart of the matter

Tai, who is currently ranked World No. 2 in the BWF World Rankings, believes there is not much difference between herself and Sindhu. Although Tai had gotten the better of Sindhu in the final of the 2018 Asian Games, the Indian was quick to bounce back and defeat the former at the 2019 World Championships. Sindhu had also defeated Tai at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.

The Taiwanese, who has reigned supreme over a majority of the Indian shuttlers in the recent past, was in India for the Premier Badminton League (PBL) earlier this month. Speaking with the Times of India in Hyderabad, she said:

"It’s very open, anybody’s game. Women’s singles is very competitive right now. There is obviously Sindhu, there is Marin, there is Chen Yu Fei, He Bing Jiao, Ratchanok Intanon. Everyone is capable of winning the Olympic (gold)."

"There's not really a lot of difference between Sindhu, Saina and myself," Tai added.

Badminton Malaysia Open - Day 4

What’s next?

According to Tai, Sindhu is a strong contender for winning a medal at the Tokyo Olympics. It will be interesting to see if the Indian, who has not been in the best of form recently, will be able to share the podium with the top-ranked players at the upcoming quadrennial event.