I take your hint. The next time when Tang comes to Singapore, I'll make sure to take a pic with him, get his autograph and present him with a BF cap (provided you can get this done without further delay).
Translation... An Exclusive from Nanfang Ribao, reported by Liang Yan (Reporter) and Xie Sude (Reporter Intern) He's the Wonder Coach who produced a whole line of worldbeaters Tang Xianhu: Fame and money no longer mean anything to me At the age of 63, veteran coach Tang Xianhu is always the one who keeps the lowest profile in the Chinese badminton team. Sporting a red cap which covers more than half of his wisdom-lined face, Tang Xianhu likes to sit at one corner of the gymnasium during training, overseeing the team's training with his gentle words. Sometimes after training, he would gather the men doubles players, and give his training debriefing while the players huddle close together. At such occasions, no one outside of the men doubles team are allowed to be present. Such openly secretive ways of the Chinese men doubles team adds on to Tang Xianhu's mysterious personality. Treating Trainees As His Own Kids According to the men doubles players, Tang Xianhu has never used harsh words on them, or lost his temper with them. When asked about his good temperament, Tang Xianhu laughed, "I'm old, and my body can no longer withstand me working up a storm." Having dedicated half his lifetime to badminton, Tang Xianhu is now afflicted with a coronary heart disease. Everytime he gets angry, he would experience difficulty breathing. "There will always be times when things do not go your way. Sometimes the kids in the men doubles team would get me all worked up, but I just cannot bring myself to give them a dressing down. If I do that, they get nervous, and then I won't be able to get a word through, so all that I can do is to take my medicine and calm myself down." Having coached the Chinese men singles and women singles team, as well as the Indonesian badminton team before that, Tang Xianhu the "Wonder Coach" is widely known in the world of badminton. But when pressed by reporters, he kept reiterating that he has no magic formula for "transmuting stone into gold" (a Chinese idiom which means that you take something ordinary, and turn it into something extraordinary --- I think here the reporter is referring to the widely held (?) belief that Tang Xianhu can take an average badminton player, and turn him or her into a worldbeater). His only recipe is do his best in teaching through words and actions. Tang Xianhu argues that it is very important to be able to communicate with the players, because he feels that a coach not only teaches the players skills and techniques, but most importantly, he must be able to help the players realize and develop their potentials. This is why he hopes that all his trainess would share with him their innermost doubts, even doubts on the coach. Only then can they grasp what their strengths and weaknesses are on court. In the Chinese sportsmen training system, players undergo professional training at a very tender age. To them, the coach plays the role of both teacher and father. Take the case of Tang Xianhu: he not only demands his trainees to polish their badminton skills, but also require them to have an upright character. Tang Xianhu feels that only by fulfilling this dual role would he not have let the players' parents down. Specializing in Men Doubles Before His Retirement Retiring as a professional player at the age of 37, and still making his presence felt from outside the badminton court at the age of 63, Tang Xianhu is a miracle in the Chinese sports arena. But no matter how remarkable he has been, no man wins a fight against time. Tapping the side of his head, Tang Xianhu lamented, "When you are old, you have no choice but to admit you are old. My mind is no longer as sharp as what it used to be, and when things pile up, I can sense that my brain becomes knotted. In times like that, all I can do is to calm myself down." Nevertheless, Tang Xianhu does have a secret weapon against the flow of time: focus. When he was coaching the men singles team, Tang Xianhu never asks about how the men doubles team is doing. Now that he is coaching the men doubles team, it has also been a while since he watched a men singles match. So says Tang Xianhu, in his famous line, "Only when you are focussed on doing one thing can you then do it well." At the eve of every major tournament, Tang Xianhu would pace along the passage way in the spectators' stand. This is how he clear out his thoughts. Before he retires, Tang Xianhu set himself a very definite goal: to bring the Chinese men doubles out of its current doldrums, and then he would retire two years later, whatever the outcome. The Chinese team still has two long training periods before the Athens Olympics. During this time, there are still some major problems that require his attention. Although Tang Xianhu did not disclose in full details what his plans are for the next phase of the training, he did raise a specific example during the interview. "In the Hong Kong Open, the Chinese men doubles pair Cai Yun-Fu Haifeng apparently did not know how to take advantage of the draft when playing against the Indonesian pair Sigit Budiarto-Tri Kusharyanto. They also need to improve the quality of their serves. All this look like minor details, but they will be the key in deciding whether our pairs make or break in future tournaments." Doing things from bottom up has always been the style of Tang Xianhu. When asked about the Athens Olympics next year, Tang Xianhu said emphatically, "The Chinese men doubles player will perform." The Chinese badminton team has always been worried about the stagnant level of its men doubles. To be tasked with such a difficult assignment just before his retirement, Tang Xianhu shows no signs of worrying that he would not live up to his name of the "Wonder Coach". "I have had failures in training teams, but nobody remembers them; they only remember all the success stories that I have had. When I received my assignment, I had no second thoughts. If this is what I am asked to do, I will do it. The thought of not making the mark and how it might affect my reputation never crossed my mind." Having dedicated half a lifetime to badminton, what's fame and money to Tang Xianhu? Determined to Return to Fujian Tang Xianhu does not speak very fluent Mandarin --- he still speaks with an Indonesian accent. "When I was schooling, there are no schools teaching Chinese in Indonesia. I learned Chinese only when I came back to China. Even now I cannot speak the language well, and there are many characters that I do not recognize. Sometimes I have to resort to Bahasa Indonesia to express myself." After retiring as a professional player, Tang Xianhu took up a coaching position in Indonesia, and returned to China only in 1997. Even now, many of the Indonesian players still miss their wise old coach. As proud as he is, Taufik Hidayat felt that letting Tang Xianhu leave Indonesia must surely be the most dumb thing that the PBSI has done. Although he was born and raised in Indonesia (his youngest son and daughter were also born in Indonesia), Tang Xianhu cannot be sure whether he has spent a larger part of his life in Beijing or in Indonesia. But he tell himself all the time that he is Chinese, and said, "After I retire, I must return to my ancestral home in Fujian to live the rest of my days." Apparently, a lifetime with badminton is not enough for Tang Xianhu, who cannot be separated from badminton even in his leisure time. When resting at home, he would still watch the telecast of badminton tournaments, and he never seems to get sick of it. "Badminton is my hobby. I am truly fortunate to be able to blend my hobby in with my work." Tang Xianghu has three children. His eldest daughter is 30 odd, and the son and daughter borne of his second wife are now 11 and 8 years old respectively. Because he spend most of his time with the team in Beijing, Tang Xianhu has been living away from his wife and children who are in Fujian. He feels guilty about not being able to be with them. "Such a heavy burden I have placed on my wife." Being away from his children most of the time, Tang Xianhu cherishes deeply the precious few moments he does spend with them. The reporter recalls seeing Tang Xianhu's daughter crying two years ago, and Tang Xianhu still remembers why. "It's all Gong Ruina's fault, teasing her and saying that if she keeps eating sweets, she will not have pretty teeth. That's how she started crying." As a compensation from a derelict father, Tang Xianghu dotes on his children. "I won't say I am spoiling them. We have not been well to do, so now that times are getting better, surely we want to let our children enjoy the better things in life." However, when asked whether he harbors hope of his young son and daughter following in his footsteps, Tang Xianhu bares his reservations. "The kids have had a good life, and won't be able to withstand hardship. That is a great obstacle to making it in life."
(off topic discussion moved here : http://www.badmintonforum.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=12521 )
Ha cheongsa, u beat me to it. Your translation sounds so much more natural than mine. But it's good to know that our choice of words are pretty similar. I'm taking it as a practice for my exam in two weeks.