The nation’s emergence as a powerhouse in the sport is due in large part to top-quality badminton clubs. These well-funded organizations have a track record of identifying and cultivating elite young competitors.
Chou and Tai are both members of the badminton club operated by Taiwan Cooperative Bank. The Taipei City-based sporting outfit was founded in 1992 as the third in the nation following those established by state-run utility Taiwan Power Co. and Land Bank of Taiwan in 1971 and 1976, respectively. The other two major clubs in the country are run by private sector organizations, Asia Pacific Logistics International Co., a provider of container shipping services based in the southern city of Kaohsiung, and Taipei-headquartered Chailease Finance Co.
Tai was spotted by a TCB scout and invited to join the club when she was a junior high school student in Kaohsiung. At age 16, she became the country’s youngest ever top-ranked player. The 24-year-old now has her sights set on a medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Men’s singles world No. 3 and TCB club member Chou Tien-chen competes in the 2018 Chinese Taipei Open. (CNA)
TCB has 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,” said club head coach Liao Kuo-mao.
The club sponsors sports classes and varsity teams at such institutions 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 and 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 the northern city of Taoyuan. Chou is enrolled in the latter’s Graduate Institute of Athletics and Coaching Science.
Students hone their skills during a practice session at NTSU, a tertiary partner of TCB badminton club, in northern Taiwan’s Taoyuan City. (Staff photo/Huang Chung-hsin)
Taiwan’s badminton clubs 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.
Twice a year, national governing body the Chinese Taipei Badminton Association holds ranking tournaments that are hotly contested by club members and star students. The Ministry of Education’s Sports Administration selects top performers in these events to train at the Kaohsiung-based National Sports Training Center, the country’s foremost hub for the selection and development of world-class athletes. Liao also worked at the center from 2011 to 2012, coaching the national team for the 2012 London Olympics.
TCB and other organizations 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. As well as holding camps and matches for thousands of students every year, TCB stages regular tournaments for the bank’s clients and employees. (E) (By Pat Gao)
Members of TCB badminton club receive coaching at the organization’s facilities in Taipei. (Courtesy of Liao Kuo-mao)
Write to Taiwan Today at ttonline@mofa.gov.tw
(This article is adapted from Courting Success in the January/February 2019 issue of Taiwan Review. The Taiwan Review archives dating to 1951 are available online.)