Tai Tzu-ying no longer Taiwan's top-ranked female badminton player

Taipei, March 11 (CNA) Tai Tzu-ying (戴資穎) has been replaced by Sung Shuo-yun (宋碩芸) as Taiwan's top-ranked female badminton player, according to the Badminton World Federation (BWF) on Tuesday.

Tai, 30, fell six places to 25th place, according to the federation's latest rankings data, after having points deducted due to not competing.

The Taiwanese badminton ace is still recovering from knee injuries that plagued her throughout 2024. She applied for a three-month injury-protected ranking in October last year before undergoing surgery on her left knee in early December.

Tai told CNA that she "has never paid too much attention" to world rankings since they "always change," and is instead focused on rehabilitation.

Sung, meanwhile, rose one place to rank 19th in the world in the latest weekly rankings.

The 27-year-old will participate in the All England Open Badminton Championships this week where she will face Scotland's Kirsty Gilmour in the first round. If Sung wins, she will likely meet current world No. 1 An Se Young of South Korea in the round of 16.