Chou Tien-chen is taking the unusual step of gearing up for the 2020 Olympics without a coach, with his longtime physio and confidante shepherding him towards Tokyo gold.
The soft-spoken and boyish 29-year-old, known for pointing to heaven to thank God at the end of a match, parted ways with his trainer early this year.
Since then the world number two has been on a hot streak, winning the men's singles at July's Indonesia Open to claim his first title in a Super 1000 level event.
"I do a lot of homework a coach does before a game and spend more time analysing opponents and what I should do under what circumstances," he told AFP at a recent practice session in Taipei.
Cheering him on from the sidelines has been physiotherapist Victoria Kao, who has shouldered some of the traditional roles of a coach by acting as Chou's mentor, cheerleader and chief critic.
- 'Embrace your dreams' - =========================
"But when there are setbacks I will tell him it's okay -- embrace your dreams and persist -- to try to lift him up emotionally."
"There are still a lot of things I need to learn, to improve," he says. "I can't stay at where I am now."
- 'I was proud' -
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