IT was all about steely determination and courage in the Taiwanese camp at the World Championships yesterday.
The team left their Typhoon Morakot-hit country and had arrived in Hyderabad in the wee hours of the morning on Monday, but it did not stop their top men’s singles shuttler Hsieh Yu-hsing from winning his first round match against Arvind Bhat of India 21-14, 19-21, 24-22 yesterday.
But their mixed doubles and women’s singles shuttlers Fang Chieh-min-Cheng Wen-hsing and Chen Hsiao-huan went down 21-17, 11-21, 9-21 to fifth seeds Xie Zhongbo-Zhang Yawen of China and 19-21, 10-21 to ninth seed Wang Chen of Hong Kong respectively.
Hsiao-huan had her left hand injury bandaged but it did not stop her from giving her best.
The 26-year-old Yu-hsing, who reached the quarter-finals of last year’s Beijing Olympic Games after beating Malaysia’s Wong Choong Hann, said that the team were motivated to do well because of the typhoon back home.
“Our people our suffering there and we wanted to give them something to smile about by playing to our very best,” he said.
Yu-hsing said the whole team did not train for the last two days as they were desperately trying to board the plane to Hyderabad. There were several delays due to Typhoon Morakot which disrupted flight schedules.
Yu-hsing also had to play in the mixed doubles with his girlfriend Chien Yu-chin and they lost 15-21, 14-21 to Malaysia’s Koo Kien Keat-Ng Hui Lin.
“I will be joining the army next month. This is a one-year requirement. I am sure that my game will take a back seat then. Hopefully, I will be able to achieve good results here,” said Yu-hsing.