Australian Open: Beiwen Snaps Blip on Surgery Anniversary
Beiwen Zhang’s first HSBC BWF World Tour title in five years came at SATHIO GROUP Australian Open 2023 today, on the second anniversary of a surgery that had set her career back.
· BWF STAFF
One of the most poignant images from the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games was of a distraught Beiwen being wheeled out of the court after she ruptured her Achilles in the last 16 on 29 July 2021 against He Bing Jiao. Surgery followed a week later and it was eight months before she returned to action at the All England in March.
And in today's final against Kim Ga Eun at the Sydney Olympic Park, despite dropping a keenly fought opener 22-20, Beiwen, whose last title was the 2018 India Open, was determined not to let the chance of ending her wait for glory on a significant date go to waste.
She came back and won the next two, 21-16 21-8.