Tai Tzu-ying hesitates whether to retire after 2020 Summer Olympics

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Tai Tzu-ying from Chinese Taipei, the No.1 badminton player on women's singles world rankings of the BWF, said on Monday that she has not decided whether to retire or not after the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, only days after she said she'll retire after Tokyo.

"I'm thinking about it, but I haven't made up my mind. Retirement is something I've been thinking about since the last Olympics. I don't think I can go on till 2024," said Tai to the BWF on the eve of the 2019 Singapore Open.

Considering that she is only 24 years old, Tai's hesitation was understandable. During the 2019 Malaysia Open earlier, she told local newspaper, The Star, that she decided to retire after making the last push for the Olympic gold medal in Tokyo.

"My badminton career will be complete if I can win a medal at the Olympics, but whether I win a medal or not, I'll still retire," said Tai.

Tai Tzu-ying from Chinese Taipei poses her gold medal won at the 2019 Malaysia Open. /VCG Photo

Having won all 10 games against the five opponents including Cheng Yufei from China and Akane Yamaguchi from Japan in Malaysia, Tai pocketed her third straight championship of the event, proving her dominance in the sport as world's No.1 female badminton player. She's listed as the No.1 seed in Singapore, too.

"I've not won the big ones even though I've been at the top of the rankings for some time. So all my focus is on winning the World Championships in Basel this year and the Olympic gold next year," said Tai to The Star.

Tai's height of 1.62 meters was her disadvantage on the court. In order to overcome that, she had to do more running and invest more efforts in improving her skills. All these could cause extra burden and risk on her career.

According to Taipei Times, Tai's father Tai Nan-kai said that the family will support whatever decision she makes.