China's top seed Chen Yufei defeated Chinese Taipei's world No. 1 Tai Tzu-ying 2-1 in the badminton women's singles final at the Tokyo Olympics here.
Scores seesawed from the onset before Chen led from a 17-17 tie to 21-18. Chen raced to an 11-8 lead in the second game, but Tai recovered from 12-14 down to win 21-19. In the decider, Chen dominated to clinch a 21-18 victory.
Chen, 23, who is a two-time bronze medallist at the World Championships, thus took her first Olympic gold in her competition debut, reports Xinhua.
"It was unbelievable and I feel so happy," Chen said. "My head went blank when I scored the last point."
"Even when I lost the second game, I told myself not to give up and hold on to my belief," Chen said.
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Tai said that she made many mistakes in the first half of the decider, adding that it was hard for her to come back. "I think I played pretty well today, but she [Chen] just played better."
Tai said she will take a break after the end of this year before deciding where to go next.
Earlier, India's No.7 Pusarla Venkata Sindhu beat Chen's teammate He Bingjiao 21-13, 21-15 to bag the bronze.
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