Ready to rock
Although this is an international competition, Hsu, looking out over the familiar equipment at the venue, is not in the least nervous, and in fact when she speaks she appears as relaxed and smiling as if this were a domestic event. As the countdown to the Universiade rapidly proceeds, Hsu—described by her coach Tsai Wenyi as extremely strong psychologically—acts no differently than in the past, following her own rhythm and facing the competition as if it were just another day.
Seen by others as one of the top hopefuls for a gold medal, Hsu is laid back about winning one. “If you are constantly fixated on wanting to win a gold, in fact you won’t be able to. It’s better to not take it so seriously, and just advance slowly but surely, one step at a time,” she says.
Another outstanding female weightlifter, Kuo Hsing-chun, who won a bronze medal at Rio, is coming back prepared to do even better at the Universiade.
To get her back into the rhythm of competing, last year her coach, Lin Jingneng, made a special point of taking Kuo to the World University Weightlifting Championships in Mexico. Following that outing, at the Asian Weightlifting Championships held in Turkmenistan this past April, Kuo lifted a total of 241 kilograms (104 in the snatch and 137 in the clean and jerk) to break the Olympic gold medal record.
Kuo’s sporting career has not been without its share of setbacks and disappointments—such as in 2014, when she suffered an injury to her right thigh while preparing for the Incheon Asian Games when things went amiss on a 140-kilo lift. But Kuo, for whom talk about winning and losing at competitions is just part of her daily routine, now has a more mature mindset, and knows how to cope. Enthusiastic and sunny by nature, she hopes to build upon her brilliant performance at the 2013 Universiade, when she broke three records on her way to a gold medal, and she has high hopes of winning a gold for the home team.
Badminton “empress” Tai Tzu-ying, who passed up this year’s World Badminton Championships to compete for Taiwan, is also getting into her best frame of mind for the Universiade. This year is her third time representing Taiwan at these games, and although she is ranked #1 in the world, she does not take the competition lightly. “There is nothing absolute about any competition.” Whether or not she can win depends on her own and her opponents’ condition and performance at the time of their contests.
Tai, who currently studies at the University of Taipei, has been known since being introduced to badminton in third grade for her killer smash shot that is her top weapon in subduing opponents. After winning the Hong Kong Open in 2016, she found herself with enough ranking points to be named the world number-one women’s singles player, becoming the first ever “empress of the world” in Taiwan’s badminton history.
Having cast aside her disappointment at failing to win gold at Rio, Kuo Hsing-chun has set her sights firmly on preparing for the Universiade.