【在生活中學習語言】Do Stylish Clothes Make the Table Tennis Player 桌球選手也要穿出時尚 
 
  2008/9/7 | 作者：黃裕美輯譯 
 
 

In their quest to make table tennis more spectator-friendly, officials have done everything from speeding up the scoring system to switching to bigger Ping-Pong balls.

為了使桌球更得觀眾青睞，官員在努力過程中，從加快記分系統到改用較大的乒乓球，幾乎用盡各種辦法。

But one element still seems stuck inside a 1970s rec room — the play-ers' uniforms. With few exceptions, table-tennis champions compete in baggy shirts tucked into elastic waist-bands. The shorts are so loose that players sometimes hike them up dur-ing matches, creating the effect of a saggy diaper.

但其中有個元素似乎仍卡在1970年代的康樂室裡，那就是球員的制服。除了少之又少的特例，桌球好手多半穿著寬鬆的運動衫，塞進鬆緊帶褲頭的運動短褲裡。短褲因為太寬，選手有時在激戰時還猛往上拉，製造包著鬆垮垮尿布的效果。

Now the International Table Tennis Federation is looking to change that, inspired by the increasingly stylish and - yes - sexy uniforms worn by female athletes in sports as diverse as bad-minton and beach volleyball.

現在國際桌球總會希望能改變現狀，主要受羽球和沙灘排球等各種運動的女選手所穿制服愈來愈有款有型而且更性感所啟發。

"It's just a question of being well-dressed," said Claude Bergeret, a Frenchwoman who is the executive vice president of the federation. "We say in French, 'ne pas etre habillee comme un sac a patates.'" Or, you do not want to be dressed like a sack of potatoes. Several players agree.

法國籍的國際桌球總會執行副總裁克勞德．柏格瑞特說：「這只是穿著得體的問題，法文有句俗諺：『不要穿得像一袋馬鈴薯。』」有些選手深有同感。

"That is a very good idea, actually a must. Look at those tennis players — miniskirts, tight shirt," said Lau Sui Fei, a player from Hong Kong, in an interview after defeating the French player Xian Yi Fang, 4-1, in the sec-ond round of women's singles. "When I play for a European club, my boss required me to dress pretty. Otherwise, how can you attract more spectators"

「這個構想很好，事實上是勢在必行。看看那些網球選手，她們都穿迷你裙和緊身運動衫。當我打歐洲盃時，我的老闆要求我要穿漂亮點，否則怎麼吸引更多觀眾？」在這次北京奧運桌球女子單打第二輪中以四比一擊敗法國選手項宜芳（譯音）的香港選手柳絮飛賽後接受訪問時說。

About four years ago, Bergeret be-gan a campaign to revamp the sport's wardrobe, going so far as to present executives from table-tennis outfitters with a slide show contrasting the out-fits of female tennis players with those worn by their table-tennis counter-parts. "They understood the problem," Bergeret said.

大約四年前，柏格瑞特展開一項行動，要改造桌球運動的服裝，她甚至費了九牛二虎之力，放幻燈片給桌球運動用品店主管看，把女網選手和女桌球選手所穿的制服做個對比。「他們知道問題所在，」柏格瑞特說。

Since then, several of the major clothiers — Joola, Butterfly, Tibhar and Li Ning, she said — have begun tinkering with the typical uniform, adding miniskirts, fitted shirts and other elements. Bergeret held a fash-ion show during last year's table tennis World Cup, showcasing updated u-niforms for both men and women. But judging from the attire on display in early rounds of men's and women's singles matches, women's table-tennis style has a long way to go if the play-ers hope to catch up with the likes of Venus and Serena Williams, or the beach volleyball player Misty May-Treanor.

她說，幾大運動服飾店，包括尤拉、蝴蝶、挺拔和李寧，開始動手修改典型的制服，增加了迷你裙，合身的上衣和其他流行元素。柏格瑞特在去年世界乒乓球錦標賽中還舉辦一場服裝秀，展示男女選手最新款運動服。但從京運最初幾輪男單和女單桌球賽選手所穿的服飾看來，女子桌球時尚如果巴望趕上網球天后大小威廉絲或沙灘排球女選手米絲蒂，還有漫漫長路要走。

Bob Fox, the United States' team leader in table tennis, said he favored spicing up the uniforms if for no other reason than it may attract new fans. "I mean, look at beach volleyball," he said. "I don't think I need to say any-thing else."

美國桌球代表隊隊長福克斯說，他也贊成制服要更有看頭，不提別的，它至少可以吸引新的桌球迷。「我的意思是，看看沙灘排球，」他說：「我想應該沒必要再多說什麼了。」

Some Chinese fans said sexy table tennis is a contradiction in terms. "Table tennis is popular enough in China, because everybody plays the game," said Li Yong, 47, a male spectator. "I come for those players with good skills, not for prettiness." Another man, Li Yi, 39, disagreed. "I don't think they need to dress like stylish stars, but they must do some-thing about the current ugly outfit," he said. "Too many blacks and blues."

有些中國大陸球迷認為性感的桌球是種自相矛盾的說法。「桌球在中國已經風行很久，因為人人會打乒乓球，」47歲的男性觀眾李勇說。「我來看球賽是要看那些選手的精湛球技，不是為了養眼，」39歲的李義附和他的說法。「我並不認為，他們要穿得像時髦的明星，但他們目前那種醜陋的行頭是該設法改善，」他說。「不是黑色就是藍色。」

The idea pleased Zhang Yining, a table tennis player who is a household name in China. Zhang's cropped hair gives her a tomboy look, but she re-cently posed for a glamorous photo shoot on a Chinese Web site. In an interview after defeating Pavlovich, 4-0, she said she would appreciate clothes that maximized speed and spinning the ball. "I'd love to see tighter and shorter sleeves," she said.

中國家喻戶曉的桌球名將張怡寧很欣賞這個構想。張怡寧剪了頭短髮，使她看來像個小男孩但她最近在一個中國網站上po了一張很迷人的照片。在以四比○打敗帕夫洛維奇後，她接受訪問時表示，她很希望能穿能使打球速度和旋球增加到最大的球衣。「我希望袖子可以緊一點、短一點，」她說。

While shorter sleeves might please a young star like Zhang, in table tennis it is not uncommon for players to compete until they are in their late 40s and even 50s. That creates prob-lems when women of different ages must agree on a single uniform, said Roland Berg, managing director of Tibhar, a German table-tennis com-pany that outfits several Olympic teams, including France, Portugal and Brazil. "As soon as we make some-thing which is modern, unfortunately, it doesn't sell very well," Berg said. Older women, he said, prefer cotton uniforms in a classic cut, often in the color blue. "There are a lot of players who are 40 years old, almost. They don't want to be wearing hot pants. I understand that."

但雖然像張怡寧這種年輕球星喜歡短袖，但桌球不乏四、五十歲才開始上場競技的選手。德國桌球用品公司挺拔總經理柏格指出，不同年齡的女選手要同意某一款制服就會產生問題。挺拔曾提供包括法國、葡萄牙和巴西在內的幾個國家奧運代表隊制服。「遺憾的是，每當我們推出一些比較摩登的款式，通常賣得不好，」柏格說。年紀大的女人，他指出，寧可穿棉質傳統剪裁的制服，顏色也多半選藍色。「很多選手幾乎已經40歲了，她們不要穿熱褲，我可以理解。」

While Bergeret has focused her campaign on women, she said she fa-vors updating men's attire, as well. "Some say, this is what they wore 20 years ago already," said German player Christian Suss, gesturing at his loose gray shorts, which did not match his polo shirt, which was done up in Germany's national colors of red, yel-low and black. "Now we are such a professional sport. You see the tables and everything else looking different. But the clothes Yeah, we have to improve a little bit more."

柏格瑞特雖然把行動焦點放在女選手身上，但她說她也很想使男選手的服裝更跟得上時代。「有人說，20年前選手就已經這麼穿了，」德國選手蘇斯說，他比比寬鬆的灰色短褲，這和他以德國國旗紅黃黑為基調的polo衫很不搭。「我們打的可是職業運動，你發現桌子和其他一切都不同了，但衣服還一成不變。對，我們應該再改良一點。」
 

來源：人間福報
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