Persistence Pays for Wang Tzu Wei
Semifinals day at the HSBC BWF World Tour Finals 2019 featured one surprise name – Wang Tzu Wei.
· DEV SUKUMAR
The world No.19 hadn’t had a particularly remarkable year and was a late qualifier. He sealed his spot at the final qualifying tournament, the Gwangju Korea Masters, making the top eight in the Race to Guangzhou rankings after accumulating points from 23 World Tour tournaments – nine more than Anders Antonsen, who’d qualified in seventh place.
Given his record for most of the year – he fell in the first or second round of 17 tournaments – he wasn’t expected to make a splash in Guangzhou.
And yet, against most expectations, Wang did more than just make up the numbers. After a straight-games loss to Kento Momota, he ran through Jonatan Christie 21-12 21-17, throwing the group open. With Anders Antonsen losing his first two matches, Wang only needed a game in his final group match against the Dane to seal his semifinal place.