Taiwan's Chiu Pin-chien Falls in Indonesia Open Quarterfinals; Coach Calls for Technical Improvement

(Central News Agency, Taipei, June 5) Taiwan's top women's singles badminton player, Chiu Pin-chien, lost to Japan's top player Akane Yamaguchi 13-21, 12-21 in the quarterfinals of the BWF Super 1000 Indonesia Open on Wednesday. Despite the defeat, she recorded her best-ever performance at the Indonesia Open. National team women's singles coach Lai Chien-cheng said, "There is still room for technical improvement."

Chiu, ranked 13th in the BWF women's singles world rankings, is Taiwan's top player and has reached a career-high ranking. In the first round of this Super 1000 event, she won a hard-fought three-game match against Thai star Ratchanok Intanon.

In the second round, she defeated Thai rising star Pitchamon Opatniputh to advance to the quarterfinals, marking her best result at the Indonesia Open.

However, against Yamaguchi, Chiu was unable to put up much of a fight as her stamina had not fully recovered.

Coach Lai told CNA with a laugh, "It seems Chiu used up all her energy in the first match." He added, "Besides the stamina issue, there is indeed room for technical improvement. She currently has too few scoring options."

Chiu has been training under Coach Lai since entering the National Sports Training Center early last year, and her progress has been evident. Other Taiwanese women's singles players include Lin Hsiang-ti (ranked 15th) and Huang Yu-hsun (ranked 30th).

Coach Lai emphasized, "Every women's singles player has their own characteristics and weaknesses. I don't intend to mold them into a specific template. We should train according to their individual traits and maximize their strengths."

Regarding the Asian Games in Nagoya this September, Coach Lai analyzed, "Based on this year's Thomas & Uber Cup, there is still a gap between Taiwan's women's singles players and the top players from other Asian countries. It's difficult to rapidly improve technical skills in such a short time. Therefore, we hope to strengthen each player's mental fortitude so they don't get stage fright and can give their all in matches." (Editor: Lung Po-an) 1150605