In April, the Commonwealth’s top players will bring their skill, speed and strategy to the Gold Coast to show crowds why the sport has captivated fans across the globe, particularly in Europe and Asia.

No one is more excited about having a major badminton event on home soil than Australia’s own champions.

Reigning three-time Oceania singles champion Wendy Chen is one of them.

The GC2018 Badminton ambassador grew up in Brisbane playing the ‘family sport’.

The 24-year-old has competed in tournaments all over the world and has experienced the deafening cheers of packed crowds, the intoxicating feeling of victory and the devastation of missing out.

She’s been playing for more than 10 years and Chen loves the challenge of the game and the diverse range of skills it demands.

“It’s very high intensity,” Chen told GC2018.com.

“It requires great reflexes, great body coordination, it’s very challenging. That’s what I love about it.”

At the elite level, badminton couldn’t be more different to the perception of portable nets in the backyard and leisurely hits of a plastic shuttlecock during physical education classes at school.

The way Chen describes it, the atmosphere at major competitions would give even State of Origin crowds a run for their money.

“When I was playing the (2016) Olympics, it was so noisy, so noisy that I could barely hear how I hit the shuttle,” she said.

“Hearing the shuttle helps me determine how far the shuttle is, but when you’re in there you can’t hear it. I can’t hear anything, I can’t hear the umpire saying the score, it’s very different.”