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Unsung contenders learn lessons from their defeat

Chu Mu-yen, Olympic gold medalist in the 58kg men's taekwondo division, autographs a fan's head during a celebratory banquet for the team yesterday. PHOTO: LIN CHENG-KUN, TAIPEI TIMES

The Olympics are the setting for many tales of athletes striving for victory. Some meet with success, but for others, the years of training and deprivation only lead to defeat. For Taiwan's Olympic delegation at Athens 2004, the stories of table tennis star Chuan Chih-yuan (莊智淵) and female shooter Lin Yi-chun (林怡君) are part of these tales that form a backdrop to the victory processions of the Olympic games.

Chuan, 23, has been fighting the odds from the beginning.

At only 169cm tall, he is short for a table tennis player, and he does not have the telegenic good looks of compatriot Chiang Peng-luung (蔣澎龍), the darling of Taiwan's table tennis scene. Chuang didn't even seem to have any natural talent for the game, and it was not until his victory in the 2002 Pro Tour that he was seriously thought of as a medal prospect and picked up by Taiwan's table tennis establishment.

Even so, he was generally overshadowed by the more high-profile baseball, aekwondo and archery squads.

The son of Lee Kuei-mei (李貴美), a former national team table tennis player, Chuang had always wanted to become a table tennis star. Although his mother believed he lacked the natural abilities of a top player, his dedication to the sport was unshakeable. He dedicated his life to training, giving himself no time for enjoyment, rest or girlfriends.

In March 2000, Chuan, who knows a little bit of English, went to Germany alone to join a German table tennis club, starting a lonely journey of more than three years. He attended numerous of competitions without any company, and most times his coach's seat was empty.

"Loneliness could not defeat my son; it just made him more dedicated. I would sometimes ask him to stop practicing, to go out with friends, to go dancing, go for a drive ... but he would always shake his head and continue with his practice," said Lee.

Now ranked fifth in the world, Chuan is regarded as one of the young stars of table tennis along with China's Wang Hao (王皓), German's Timo Boll and South Korea's Ryu Seung-min. Those four young talents all entered the quarterfinal, while Wang was defeated by Ryu during the gold medal round.

In the quarterfinals, Chuan came face to face with Wang, who eventually went on to win the silver in the men's singles. In previous competitions, Chuang had defeated Wang in three out of four matches, but at Athens, Wang had changed his game to get the better of Chuan's fearsome smash.

Chuan went into his game with Wang feeling confident, and at one point led 2-1. At this point Wang's coach, Liu Kuo-liang (劉國樑), himself an Olympic champion, make Wang keep the ball on Chuang's right so he could not use his signature left hand flash attacks. Chuan was unable to keep his lead, and was defeated 4-2.

According to Chen Shi-sung (陳溪松), a national team coach in Taiwan, China's stronger team mentality overcame Chuan, who was out there on his own.

"Despite his world-class technique, he couldn't win the initiative from Wang," Chen said. "The Chinese coach had picked out Chuan's weak points and made Wang boldly forgo his usual game, focusing on Chuan's right side instead. This is what gave him the victory."

Although Chuan will probably not get any huge endorsement deals, his dedication to the sport has earned him his opponents' respect. With more support from the home crowd, Chuan might well fulfill his promise in four years.

Another quiet competitor is shooter Lin Yi-chun (林怡君), 23, who was eliminated in the first round of competition despite high hopes. Lin had won gold at the World Championships in 2002 and the national government selected her as Athlete of the Year. These honors created enormous pressures on her to perform, leading to a virtual collapse at Athens.

"Archers and shooters both face this kind of problem. They get lost in their own thoughts, fearing to lose the medal they haven't even won yet, and this easily leads to a breakdown in concentration," said Hung Tsung-min (洪聰敏), a professor at the Graduate Institute of Exercise and Sport Science at Taipei Physical Education College.

"With the government offering huge financial bonuses for medal winners, with your eye on the target, if you think about the one shot being worth US$340,000, wouldn't your hand shake?" Hung said.

To help solve this problem, coach Tseng Chao-hsiung (曾兆雄) brought in hypnotist Hsu Ming (徐明) to get to the bottom of Lin's depression. After arriving in Athens, Lin's psychological problems took on a physical dimension, and despite the intense Athens heat she insisted on sleeping with three blankets. On the field she was incapable of shutting out the distraction from ongoing work in the stadium, and put in some of her weakest performances ever.

The situation was made even worse when Hsu's daughter jumped to her death in Taiwan. Although Hsu is famous for having helped many entertainment stars and celebrities overcome emotional problems, he had been unable to prevent his own daughter's suicide. Despite this, Hsu stayed on in Athens to counsel Lin, but the shadow of death seemed to engulf her, adding to the pressure on the already depressed athlete.

In the qualifying rounds, Lin earned a better score than she did four years ago in Sydney. However, her performance was not good enough due to errors, and she was eliminated without even making it into the second round.

Hung Tsung-min said that Lin's experience, as well as the narrow losses by Taiwan's archers, indicate that sports officials should pay more attention to stress among athletes, lest more hopefuls be hampered in their efforts to give their best performances.
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