Chiu-Mei HO swung with forehand topspin (left) and backhand volley (right), at the Taipei International Women’s Professional Tennis Tournament in 2005. Photographed by Yee-Reng HUANG and Fu-Shing CHANG

This is a great year for tennis in Taiwan. Good news keeps pouring in.  At the beginning of this year, Yung-Jan CHAN and Chia-Jung CHUANG were the runner-up for women’s doubles in the Australia Open, one of the four majors. Later on, they won championships in several contests, which advanced their world ranking to the top ten. And again, just a few days ago, Chiu-Mei HO, the named Taiwanese Tennis Beauty, surprisingly grabbed the World Deaf Tennis Cup in Munich and became the new empress of deaf tennis players in the world. 

Tennis is one of the most popular sports in the world, especially in the U.S.A. and Europe. Until recently, Taiwan has not had chances to celebrate any tennis achievements. However, in recent year, Taiwan has gradually become a new star, proudly achieved in the WTA Tennis Tournaments and deaf tennis.

Chiu-Mei HO fought for her tennis career twenty years ago.  She along with Show-Jhuan WUN and Li-Jyuan SIE, the “three woman musketeers,” defeated teams from Finland, Philippine and Thailand, among others, in the matches of Federal Cup and Asia Cup. This won her universal praises, even though she was not titled in any Asian tournaments. With delicate facial features and a well-balanced figure, the media in Taiwan used to call Ho the Tennis Beauty. Before Shi-Ting WANG, she was ranked as the top in Taiwan for eight years in a row. She literally had no rival at that time.
Chiu-Mei HO is from Jhu-Ci, Chia-yi County.  Her tennis training is quite legendary.  She and the other two musketeers practiced on a tennis court located at the residence of General Yue SYUE. Coach Yue-Han CHANG built the court from scratch with his own hands. At the age of 13, “Three musketeers” defeated domestic tennis stars such as Siang-Gu LIOU, Show-Mei JHAN, and Yu-lan LIOU, and became the new champions in Taiwan.  The tennis teams of Tainan City and Chiayi County even fought against each other to win them over.   

Before last July, Chiu-Mei HO was not known to the world deaf tennis community and had not competed in any international tennis tournament for the deaf. World Deaf Tennis Cup in Munich did not even have her profile or records on its official website before the tournament. In spite of all, long accumulated powers roared at the most crucial moment and won her an elegant new title: Deaf Tennis Empress. 

Competing with the best players of the world in the matches, she made five singles and five doubles in a week. She won all five singles without losing one set. She even held some competitors to no points at all for as many as seven sets. She defeated Japan, Turkey, Britain, and Spain, each in only two sets. She lost no sets in her first two matches at the event, nor did her opponents win any points for two sets. In the final game, she lost only a set to Germany. We look forward to seeing her win the women’s singles’ gold medal for Taiwan in the 21st Summer Deaflympics in 2009.
In Munich, Chiu-Mei HO sometimes played doubles with her elder sister, Chiu-Hsiang HO, and sometimes with Yu-Chen LAI, another young player. The younger players were not as strong. They are still looking for the best pace and rhythm, but of the five games, only lost one. We sincerely hope that after two years of training, they will fetch the medal of woman doubles in the 21st summer Deaflympics Taipei 2009.

In Europe and America, wheel tennis and Deaf tennis draw a lot of attention. The world’s major tennis contests are bustling and interesting. Following Yung-Jan CHAN and Chia-Jung CHUANG, performed sensationally in Paris and Wimbledon, Chiu-Mei HO, surprised all the spectators at the stadium in Munich, Germany.