News

At the prize presentation for the Hong Kong Sports Institute (HKSI) Outstanding Junior Athlete Awards (OJAA) held at the Cornwall Street Squash & Table Tennis Centre, Kowloon Tong today (Monday), badminton player Wong Wing-ki, golfer Chan Tsz-ching, mentally handicapped swimmers Lee Tsun-sang and Tang Chui-fan were named recipients of the Award for the third quarter of 2008.

Badminton player Wong Wing-ki, who won his first outstanding junior athlete title already in the 1^st quarter of 2008, grabbed 2 bronze medals at the Badminton Asia Youth Under 19 Championships 2008 in July to earn him the same honour for the second time. Eighteen-year-old Wong expressed his feeling with excitement and said, "This is a very encouraging award to me. I would like to thank Head Badminton Coach Chan Chi-choi and my teammates for their continued support; of course my parents also play a significant part in supporting me to be a full-time athlete." The junior has set his sights on the forthcoming London 2012 Olympic Games.

Golfer Chan Tsz-ching ranked 4^th out of 87 participants in girls division (age 13-14) at Callaway Golf Junior World Championship held in the USA in July. A third-former at Diocesan Girl's School, Chan started the sport at the age of seven. She showed her talent in the sport at 10 when she won the second place in her first overseas tournament. The young golfer has fallen in love with the sport since then, she said, "I'm very happy that my continued practice wins recognition. This Award surely encourages me to work harder in the future."

Mentally handicapped swimmer Lee Tsun-sang first represented Hong Kong at the 9^th Far East & South Pacific Games for the Disabled (FESPIC Games) in 2006. He won the Award for his excellent performance at the 4^th INAS-FID Open European Swimming Championships by pocketing 2 silver and 2 bronze medals. "I'm really happy to win the Award for the first time which helps boost my confidence in the upcoming competitions. The Award offers recognition to junior athletes and the efforts they have put in, fueling us to strive for sporting excellence." The forth-former is aggressive in his sporting life, he targets to break all the Hong Kong men's backstroke records for the mentally disability and hopes to get medals for Hong Kong at the 2^nd INAS-FID Global Games next year.

Another mentally handicapped swimmer Tang Chui-fan started the sport at the age of eight, and became a member of the Hong Kong squad in 2003. Like Lee Tsun-sang, Tang returned from the same competition with flying colours by bagging 5 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze medal. "I'm very happy that my effort is recognised. I target to represent Hong Kong in the 2012 Paralympic Games by getting the same brilliant results as Michael Phelps did."

Each recipient received a cash prize of HK$2,500, sports gears voucher worth HK$2,500 and a certificate at the presentation. In addition, badminton player Chan Tsz-ka, gymnast Hui Pui-kuen, squash players Ho Ka-po and Tong Tsz-wing as well as table tennis player Lee Ho-ching were each presented a certificate of merit to recognise their outstanding performance.

Presented by the HKSI with the support from the Sports Federation & Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China (SF&OC) and the Hong Kong Sports Press Association (HKSPA), the Awards scheme aims to recognise the achievement of local junior athletes under the age of 19 on a quarterly basis.