PETALING JAYA: World No. 1 Tai Tzu-ying of Taiwan is brushing up not only on her badminton skills, but also her English proficiency ahead of the new season in January.
The 26-year-old has been communicating with her fans through an interpreter but she is determined to do all the talking on her own in future interviews.
Tzu-ying gave fans a glimpse of her English-speaking ability after winning her third All-England crown in March.
During the post-game interview on court, Tzu-ying expressed her gratitude to the crowd at the Arena Birmingham in English by saying: “I really like to play in this environment, thanks for all your support.”
In a recorded interview with Badminton World Federation recently, Tzu-ying said she has been busy on and off the court.
“Our training centre has an arrangement with a university and they send an English teacher to conduct lessons, ” she said.
“Why I want to learn English? Well, it’s so that I can express myself in my own words and for my fans to understand me.
“I also want to be able to directly answer questions about my feelings because sometimes interpreters might not be so accurate.
“I’m trying my best to answer in simple English now, but it takes time.”
Like many other Asian top guns, Tzu-ying has yet to make a comeback since the All-England.
Tzu-ying currently holds the record for most accumulated weeks as the top women’s singles shuttler – a total of 148 weeks including a 72-week stretch from Dec 1,2016 to April 18,2018.
Despite being dominant on the badminton circuit with more than two dozen titles, she finds little success when it comes to the World Championships and Olympic Games.
She has never progressed beyond the quarter-finals, with two Olympics round of 16 appearances and five World Championships last-eight finishes.
With the Tokyo Olympics and World Championships in Huelva, Spain held next year, Tzu-ying has a shot at making a long-awaited breakthrough in the same year.
Source: The Star Online