BADMINTON/Taiwan's queen of badminton tears up at pre-retirement meet-and-greet

Taipei, Sept. 29 (CNA) Taiwan's badminton ace Tai Tzu-ying (戴資穎), who is set to retire at the end of the year, teared up at a meet-and-greet held in her honor in Taipei Sunday while thanking fans for their tireless support throughout her career.

The event, organized by her sponsor Chunghwa Telecom, celebrated the 30-year-old's 15 years as Taiwan's top female shuttler.

After watching a video where her fans cheered her on, Tai choked up as she thanked them and said they have always been present at her matches, including those played overseas.

The support of those fans has been what has enabled her to feel like every match was on a home court, she said, adding "Thank you all for transforming the (badminton) courts of every country into Taiwan."

Tai also praised her fans for supporting and encouraging her through thick and thin, even in her final year as an active athlete in which she has struggled with injuries, epitomized by an early ouster from the Olympic badminton tournament in Paris in late July.

The Sunday event heralded the shuttler's planned retirement later this year.

Easy-going days

When asked of her plans after she hangs up her racket, the badminton ace said she will at least take it easy the first year to "live her life again."

But she also said she hoped to maintain a continuing presence for her fans and her country.

"If there are schools or badminton teams that invite me to share my competition experiences, the process of matches or even my techniques, I'd be more than willing to do so," she said.

Tai also said she plans to do a speaking tour around Taiwan, although there was nothing concrete at the moment.

"I would probably need to take an active first step," Tai said, "seeing as how I'm not very good at talking. I'm also unable to face a crowd by myself and just chit-chat, so that's something I'll need more work on."

With three more months left in the 2024 badminton season, Tai said she plans on participating in October's Arctic Open in Finland and the subsequent Denmark Open just two days later as long as her doctors give her the green light.

Tai said she will not be hosting an official retirement ceremony nor will she designate a specific competition as her farewell match, as she is afraid that once she starts crying, she will not be able to stop.

"(I'll) just play it by ear," Tai said, "because I think leaving the court should not be a melancholy experience."

Tai admitted that she would still play the game in the future, whether in exhibition matches held by her sponsors or even special events at Taiwan's badminton venues.

"I still like playing badminton a lot," she said. "I hope to stay with everyone in a different capacity following my retirement; (fans) should be able to continue seeing me (in public)."

Aside from organizing the meet-and-greet, Chunghwa Telecom on Sunday also released special instant messaging stickers featuring Tai over the social media communications application Line.

The telecom service provider said all proceeds from the sales of the stickers will be used as funding for badminton events with Taiwan's queen shuttler, such as summer camps and badminton-promotion programs.