Taiwan's badminton ace Tai Tzu-ying now world No. 3

Taipei, June 11 (CNA) Taiwan's Tai Tzu-ying (戴資穎) improved her Badminton World Federation (BWF) rankings in the women's singles competition, ranking world No. 3 by holding on to her points after she announced last month her withdrawal from the 2024 Singapore Open and the Indonesia Open, according to the latest BWF rankings released on Tuesday.

Tai had been ranked No. 4 in the world before the updated rankings, behind world No. 3 Carolina Marin of Spain.

However, she climbed one spot after Marin lost in the semifinals at the 2024 Indonesia Open which saw her ranking points reduced.

The higher ranking will allow Tai to improve her seeding at the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics in late July and have a good chance to directly advance to the quarterfinals.

According to current Olympic rules, the 39 verified shuttlers for the women's singles event will compete against one another after being divided into 13 groups.

Any player who takes the first spot in a group occupied by one of the top-three seeded shuttlers will be allowed to advance to the quarterfinals directly.

With the Olympic badminton seeding positions scheduled to be fixed on July 9, Tai has been looking for chances to accumulate more ranking points since November.