CHENGDU: Beyond the court, what sets world No. 4 women's doubles shuttler Chiharu Shida apart from her teammates is her profound love towards Japanese idol songs.
The 27-year-old said captivating melodies from Japanese idols always served as her soundtrack before stepping onto the badminton court.
"I really enjoy listening to Japanese idol songs. I don't have a specific favourite, but every song I listen to inspires me a lot," she told Bernama.
Earlier, Chiharu and her doubles partner Nami Matsuyama outclassed Priya Konjengbam-Shruti Mishra 21-8, 21-9 to deliver their country's second point in their 3-0 quarter-final triumph over India today.
In the semi-finals, six-time champions Japan will take on China, who showed Denmark the exit with a similar result.
In the meantime, Chiharu hopes that her teammates will be mentally prepared for tomorrow's (May 4) semi-final against the hosts and 15-time champions China.
"Of course, we want to win the Uber Cup but we need to do something special in the semi-final against China first.
"We know that the Chinese players are aggressive and will have the home crowd behind them... we must be mentally prepared for that," she said.
Japan last won the Uber Cup in 2018, when they downed hosts Thailand 3-0 in Bangkok.
Meanwhile, the right-handed player also expressed her determination to do her best with Nami to bag the gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, which will be held from July 26 until Aug 11. – BERNAMA