VOA文化艺术202--羽毛球场提供了不同寻常的体验

Badminton Court Offers Unusual Experience

With bright lights on the floor and walls, loud electronic music, and a red shuttlecock flying around, this Malaysian badminton court seems like the set of a science fiction movie.

"Shuttle In The Dark" is a place to play badminton in the famous Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur. It was set up in late 2021 by a company that wanted people to take up the sport after two years of restrictions¹ related² to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Badminton is one of the most popular sports in Malaysia and Asia. The Southeast Asian country has produced some of the world's top-ranked players.

Irina Inozemtseva is Director of Inic Sport Management. She said the goal was to "gain back the interest of people to come back and play." She added that the group wanted to draw in not only expert players but also "new people who were not able to or never played badminton before."

The futuristic court presents a new difficulty for players. They have to adjust their eyes to the darkness to play, said Lee Yan Sheng, a professional badminton coach.

Professional player Ho Yen³ Mei used the term focus – meaning to carefully direct attention – to describe the requirements of playing on the court.

"With the lighting⁴, somehow we are still able to hit it and then it requires better focus. And it's exciting, it's different but it's still like playing normal (badminton)," she said.

Open to players of all levels, Shuttle in the Dark charges $42.63 per hour to use the courts and rent their equipment. A regular public court charges about $4.50.

Words in This Story

shuttlecock – n. a lightweight object that is used in badminton

badminton – n. a court game played with light long-handled rackets and a shuttlecock volleyed over a net

rank -- v. to determine the relative position of

coach -- n. one who instructs players in the fundamentals of a sport and directs team strategy

1 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

2 related   

adj.有关系的，有关联的，叙述的，讲述的

参考例句：

• I am not related to him in any way.我和他无任何关系。
• We spent days going through all related reference material.我们花了好多天功夫查阅所有有关的参考资料。

3 yen   

n. 日元；热望

参考例句：

• He wanted to convert his dollars into Japanese yen.他想将美元换成日币。
• He has a yen to be alone in a boat.他渴望独自呆在一条船上。

4 lighting   

n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光

参考例句：

• The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
• The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。