Talented Chinese men’s doubles player Cai Yun is famous for his excellent accordion skills, which he says help him improve his exquisite technique over the net.

Now the romantic young man from Suzhou shows off his artistic taste with an English tattoo (in the picture) on his back, which he says helps him remind keep confident and cool in tough games.

When Cai took off his jersey to celebrate the victory in the men’s doubles semifinals, the historic breakthrough for China at the Olympics, people were amazed by the beautiful tattoo on his back.

“It says ‘Face of

Adversity’,” he said of the English letters in curlicue. “It took me three hours to finish the whole piece. It really hurt a lot.”

Suffering a series of ups and downs at some major tournaments since last year, Cai decided to get a tattoo soon after he came back from the Thomas Cup in February.

“It is a life-long reminder and encouragement for me. I hope I can keep cool and overcome all the difficulties.”

The national head coach Li Yongbo agreed that the tattoo was a positive psychological prop for Cai.

“It can remind the young pair to always keep a strong metal frame. And they really did it today,” Li said after the pair reached yesterday’s final.

“The tattoo looks quite pretty.”