出征奧運的香港隊乒乓伉儷大綱

With the London Olympics fast upon us, introduces the athletes selected to compete at the Summer Games.
在倫敦夏季奧運會開幕前夕，《華爾街日報》網站將介紹一些奧運參賽選手。

Three years ago, Tie Yana was late to her own wedding because she was busy playing a ping-pong match. Fortunately, her fianc谷-and fellow professional ping-pong player-Tang Peng forgave her, they signed the marriage papers, and this month, the duo are headed to London for one of the biggest tests of their careers: the Olympics.
帖雅娜三年前，因爲忙於打乒乓球比賽，帖雅娜沒能按時參加自己的婚禮。好在她的未婚夫──同爲職業乒乓球運動員的唐鵬原諒了她，兩人在賽後辦理了結婚登記手續。2012年7月，這對乒乓伉儷將奔赴倫敦，迎接他們運動生涯中最重大的考驗：奧運會。

Though they're representing Hong Kong, the city where they met and married, both players actually hail from mainland China, where ping pong was early on enshrined as a national obsession by enthusiasts from Mao Zedong to Deng Xiaoping. There, competition to join the country's national team is so fierce that even ambitious top-level talents find it difficult to break through.
雖然帖雅娜和唐鵬將代表香港隊參賽（兩人在香港相遇並結合），但兩位運動員其實都來自中國大陸。在中國，乒乓球很早就成爲舉國癡迷的體育項目，從毛澤東到鄧小平時代都有大批乒乓愛好者。加入國家隊要面臨極其激烈的競爭，就連雄心勃勃的頂尖健將都很難在衆人之中殺出重圍。

Both Ms. Tie and Mr. Tang knew their best chance of ever making it to the Olympics meant leaving home. 'There's definitely more opportunities as a player in Hong Kong,' says Ms. Tie, 33, who moved to the city a decade ago after being spotted by a talent scout in Shanghai. 'Ping pong is China's national game, so competition is more fierce.'
帖雅娜和唐鵬都知道，要想獲得參加奧運會的機會就意味着要離開故土。33歲的帖雅娜說：“對運動員來說，香港顯然有更多機會。乒乓球是中國的國球，因此大陸的競爭更加激烈。”帖雅娜十年前在上海被球探發現，隨後移居到香港。

For years, China has allowed plenty of ping-pong players to go abroad, confident that the exodus will scarcely threaten the country's own unparalleled dominance at the sport. 'China's goal is to have us encourage the development of ping pong overseas,' says Mr. Tang, age 31, who came in Hong Kong in 2005 and says that, like Ms. Tie, he gave up his Chinese citizenship for an HKSAR passport. 'So Chinese [ping pong] players go to Africa, to Europe, to Japan-they're everywhere.'
多年來，中國一直允許大批乒乓球運動員移居海外，認爲球員的外流幾乎不會威脅中國在乒乓球運動中無以倫比的霸主地位。31歲的唐鵬說，“中國的目的是讓我們促進海外乒乓球運動的發展，因此中國的（乒乓球）運動員會去非洲、歐洲、日本──世界各地都有他們的身影。”唐鵬於2005年移居香港，和帖雅娜一樣也放棄了中國大陸居民身份，持有香港特別行政區護照。

'It's like America's basketball,' says Mr. Tang of China's exports of ping-pong talent. 'There are also Americans who come to China to play basketball, to help the development of the sport in China.'
唐鵬談到中國向海外輸出乒乓人才的現象時說：“這就像美國的籃球運動一樣。也有美國人到中國去打籃球，幫助發展中國的籃球運動。”

Though Hong Kong returned to Chinese control in 1997, the former British colony continues to operate with its own independent political and economic system, and also sends its own athletes to compete in the Olympics. The city of 7 million, though, has only ever taken home two medals: a gold one in 1996 for windsurfing, and a silver medal in 2004 for ping pong.
儘管香港在1997年迴歸中國，但這個曾經的英國殖民地依然保持着獨立的政治和經濟體制，並派自己的運動員參加奧運會。不過，這個人口700萬的城市僅奪得過兩塊獎牌：一次是1996年帆板項目金牌，另一次是2004年的乒乓球項目銀牌。

Like Hong Kong's four other ping-pong Olympic hopefuls (which include two additional talents from mainland China), Ms. Tie and Mr. Tang spend hours per day fiercely volleying ping-pong balls in a cavernous training hall, the floor strewn with white balls like drifts of popcorn. The only sound is the squeaking of sneakers, the echoing tempo of ping-pong balls, and occasional grunts from the players.
和香港其他四名有望在奧運會上拿獎的選手一樣（其中有兩名也來自中國大陸），帖雅娜和唐鵬每天都會花很長時間在空曠的訓練場館裏刻苦練球，地板上滿是白色的乒乓球，就像一堆堆爆米花一樣。場館裏唯一能聽到的聲音，就是運動鞋的嘎吱聲，乒乓球有節奏的迴響聲，以及運動員偶爾的嘟囔聲。

Though Mr. Tang and Ms. Tie married in 2009, currently the duo live separately in gender-segregated rooms in dormitories along with other athletes who are in training, each with their own roommate.
帖雅娜和唐鵬2009年就結婚了，但目前夫婦倆是分開住的。他們與其他參加訓練的運動員一起住在男女宿舍裏，每個人都有自己的室友。

'Hong Kong doesn't have much land,' explains Ms. Tie. 'Its resources are restricted. Anyway, the dormitories are a lot nicer than college dormitories.'帖雅娜解釋說，“香港沒有多少土地，資源有限；但不管怎麼說，運動員宿舍比大學宿舍要好多了。”

When asked whether she has aspirations to win the gold medal this year, Ms. Tie laughs. 'China's team will definitely be really strong,' says Ms. Tie, who has twice competed in the Olympics and is seen as one of mainland China's stronger challengers this year. 'But I'll do the best I can.' She hasn't won any Olympic medals yet, but has defeated players from mainland China in previous competitions, including during the East Asian Games in 2009-just before she married Mr. Tang, as it happens.
在被問到今年是否期望奪金時，帖雅娜笑了。她說：“中國隊肯定是非常強的，但我會盡力。” 帖雅娜參加過兩次奧運會，被視爲今年中國大陸選手的有力挑戰者之一。她沒有拿過奧運獎牌，但以往曾在一些比賽中擊敗過中國大陸選手，其中包括2009年的東亞運動會(East Asian Games)──就在她與唐鵬結婚之前。

'That day, everyone was there waiting for me [at the hotel] to finish my competition,' she remembers, including the lawyer that they'd asked to help officiate. 'I was still wearing my sports clothes when I arrived. It was the last game of the day. And I won. It was really such a lucky day.'
她回憶道，“那天所有人都（在酒店）等我打完比賽”，其中包括應邀前來見證婚禮的律師。她說：“我到酒店時還穿着運動服。那是當天的最後一場比賽，我贏了。真是幸運的一天。”

Ms. Tie makes a face and laughs when asked about her husband's chances of bringing home a gold medal, but Mr. Tang-who is competing in the Olympics for the first time-says he's upbeat. 'It's the Olympics,' he says. 'I'm really looking forward to it. Anything can happen.'
被問及唐鵬有多大把握奪金時，帖雅娜做了個鬼臉，笑了起來。唐鵬是第一次參加奧運會，但他說自己比較樂觀。“這是奧運會，我真的很期待。什麼事情都有可能發生。”

And while he'll be competing against mainland China, Mr. Tang, who was raised in Beijing, says that he doesn't mind having a compatriot for his opponent. 'After all, it's one country,' he says of Hong Kong's relationship with the mainland. 'You can play ping pong with your good friends,' he says. 'You respect your opponent.'
儘管唐鵬將與中國大陸選手角逐，但在北京長大的唐鵬說，他並不介意對手是自己的同胞。他談到香港與中國大陸的關係時說，“畢竟是同一個國家，你可以跟好朋友同場競技，你尊重自己的對手。”