Kate Foo Kune of Mauritius knows she owes the sport of badminton a personal debt far more costly than her early exit from the women's singles competition at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
"Without the game of badminton I wouldn't exist," Foo Kune said after her match against Hsuan-Yu Wendy Chen of Australia on Saturday. "I owe everything to badminton and I'm trying to give it back."
The 23-year-old shuttler from Mauritius beat Chen but suffered a straight games loss to No. 12 seed Porntip Buranaprasertsuk of Thailand on Sunday evening.
"My parents met playing badminton when they were kids so it's kind of a cute story. They got in the national team and said, 'Let's play mixed doubles together' and won a few tournaments like the Indian Ocean Games," said Foo Kune, who is ranked No. 65 in the world.
"Then they decided to get married and make two daughters and, obviously, they both had to play badminton."
The eldest daughter, Karen Foo Kune, represented Mauritius at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games and played with Kate in the women's doubles at the Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games. "She is retired so now it's my turn," Foo Kune said.
Foo Kune lives in Paris but still has fond memories from a childhood surrounded by badminton paraphernalia.
"At home in Mauritius our whole house is covered with rackets and shuttlecocks. My parents even made the burglar bars in the windows as a badminton shuttlecock. So everything in my house is really badminton and I grew up with the sport."
To reach Rio de Janeiro from Mauritius, Foo Kune's parents travelled overnight via Cape Town in South Africa. Her own journey to her first Olympic Games was even more exhausting.
"I haven't had a day for holiday for one-and-a-half years because I have been travelling around the world, trying to win points to come here. So this is a dream come true and I am enjoying every second of it," Foo Kune said.
"After here my dream would be to keep climbing the world rankings and maybe get into the top 30 in the world. I guess I just need to get better."
Source : XINHUA
GMT 13:37 2018 Wednesday ,12 December
WADA views International Sambo Federation as one of best in fight against doping abuseGMT 17:20 2018 Monday ,26 November
Russian football top-league’s clubs spent over $209 mln on transfer activities in 2017GMT 17:16 2018 Wednesday ,10 October
Charges against Russian national footballers Kokorin, MamaevGMT 05:55 2018 Saturday ,06 October
Don King seeks $2 mln with CAS for Stiverne-Povetkin cancelled boutGMT 09:45 2018 Wednesday ,24 January
Farrell lone Englishman on Euro awards long listGMT 08:24 2018 Tuesday ,23 January
Brewers make offer to Japanese pitcher DarvishGMT 10:31 2018 Friday ,19 January
Man Utd set to make Sanchez highest-paid Premier League playerGMT 08:23 2018 Saturday ,13 January
Alvarez vs Golovkin rematch coming in May: reportMaintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©
Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©
Send your comments
Your comment as a visitor