Taiwan Today

Government initiatives and sports clubs are working in tandem to cultivate global badminton superstars.

Tai Tzu-ying (戴資穎) is arguably Taiwan’s most talked about sportsperson. The nation’s media outlets have been avidly following the 24-year-old world No. 1 badminton player from the southern city of Kaohsiung as she wins competition after competition. Since October 2017, she has bagged 10 tournament victories, beginning with the women’s singles title at the French Open, and including the country’s first badminton gold at the Asian Games last August in Jakarta. In recognition of her achievements and influence, the government recently appointed Tai to the board of the Kaohsiung-based National Sports Training Center (NSTC), the country’s foremost hub for the selection and development of elite athletes and coaches.

With such a stellar role model, badminton—already one of the country’s most popular leisure sports—is poised to attract even more shuttlers. According to the Chinese Taipei Badminton Association (CTBA), the national governing body established in 1973 in Taipei City, about 2.5 million people, or roughly 10 percent of Taiwan’s population, are regular players.

“That number could climb to 4 million in the next few years because of the influence of some of our top stars,” said Chang Kuo-tso (張國祚‬), the association’s secretary-general. “Tai’s accomplishments have definitely been drawing more women to the sport.”

She is not the only Taiwan player excelling on the badminton court. Chou Tien-chen (周天成‬), the men’s singles world No. 3 as of Dec. 13, claimed victories at the German, Korea and Singapore opens last year. He also won silver at the 2018 Asian Games. Meanwhile, the country has been inching up in the Kuala Lumpur-headquartered Badminton World Federation’s (BWF) World Team Rankings. At the end of last year, it was in sixth place, up from eighth in 2016. Apart from Tai and Chou, another eight Taiwan athletes are listed in the top 20 in their category, including Chen Hung-ling (陳宏麟) and Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟), who ranked fourth in men’s doubles as of Dec. 13. Tai has set her sights on an Olympic medal at the 2020 Tokyo Games, a feat that would mark a major breakthrough for the country. Taiwan’s best result so far is fifth place.

Professional Coaching

The nation’s outstanding performance on the courts is in large part thanks to the support of badminton clubs, of which there are five major names. The country’s first was founded in 1971 by state-run utility Taiwan Power Co. in Taipei. Government-funded Land Bank of Taiwan (LBT) and Taiwan Cooperative Bank (TCB) followed suit in 1976 and 1992, respectively, also in the capital. Chen and Wang play for LBT while Tai and Chou belong to TCB. The first private sector club was opened in 2009 by Kaohsiung-based Asia Pacific Logistics International Co., a provider of container shipping services. The latest was launched by Taipei-headquartered Chailease Finance Co. in 2015.

These organizations offer a well-trodden pathway for talented players to reach elite levels by providing extensive tutelage in areas spanning agility, fitness and strength training as well as mental focus and strategy, according to Liao Kuo-mao (廖國茂), TCB’s head coach. Twice a year, the CTBA holds ranking tournaments that are hotly contested by club members and star students. The Ministry of Education’s Sports Administration (SA) selects top-ranked players to train at the NSTC, where they will be cultivated to compete at international level. Liao also worked at the center from 2011 to 2012, coaching the national team for the 2012 London Olympics.

School Selection

The clubs have consistently been able to find talented players by forming long-term links with high schools and universities across the country. “They recommend their most gifted young shuttlers and this is an important source of new members for us,” Liao said. TCB sponsors sports classes and varsity teams at such institutes as Zhongshan Junior High School and Songshan Senior High School in Taipei, Fengyuan Junior High School and Houzong Senior High School in the central city of Taichung as well as Hsinfeng Senior High School in the southern metropolis of Tainan. Partners at the tertiary level include the University of Taipei’s Graduate Institute of Sports Training and National Taiwan Sport University in northern Taiwan’s Taoyuan City, with the latter’s Graduate Institute of Athletics and Coaching Science celebrating enrollee Chou’s recent string of wins. Sports classes have been set up by the government to focus on Olympic events including badminton at hundreds of elementary and high schools around Taiwan. These courses help identify athletically talented youths and channel them into specialized training.

Tai’s rise through the ranks, albeit accelerated, benefited from this system. As a student in junior high school in Kaohsiung, she was spotted by a TCB scout and invited to join the club. At 16, she became the youngest-ever player to win a CTBA ranking tournament. This earned her the best rookie prize at the SA’s Sports Elite Awards in 2011.

Public Participation

National associations, along with the clubs, have also done an admirable job of promoting badminton as a health and leisure activity through organizing events for people of all ages and from diverse backgrounds. For example, as well as holding camps and matches for thousands of students every year, TCB stages regular tournaments for the bank’s clients and employees.

Taiwan Senior Badminton Association (TSBA), established in 1998 to promote the sport in schools and communities, runs the Morning Cup. This began as an event in which players competed between 6 a.m. and 8 a.m. before work, but shifted to a weekend tournament after growing in popularity. To encourage more seniors to play, the cup allows three-person sides. According to TSBA Chairwoman Becky Wu (吳宜倫‬), this format reduces the likelihood of injury as less of the court needs to be covered by any one player, with participants usually in their 60s or older. “The combined age of a team could easily be more than 200,” she said.

At the other end of the age spectrum is the TSBA Chairman Cup. This annual event is designed for elementary and junior high school students since they have not yet reached the level to play in the CTBA’s ranking tournaments. “These kids wouldn’t otherwise get a chance to play in a major competition,” Wu said, adding the organizations divide up responsibility for different age groups, with the CTBA focusing on older students and high-level players while the TSBA supports younger children and the general public.

According to Wu, for the sport to flourish further, the most pressing issue is the country’s lack of a dedicated world-class badminton stadium. International tournaments, like the BWF-sanctioned Chinese Taipei Open, take place at multifunctional buildings such as Taipei Arena. The CTBA has also raised this as a priority. “Specialized venues will mean we can hold more international events in Taiwan and boost the sport’s popularity still further,” Chang said. With all parties so dedicated—local athletes, the government, clubs and coaches—he believes badminton has an even brighter future at home and on the global stage.

Write to Pat Gao at cjkao@mofa.gov.tw