Award-winners eye East Asian Games
Squash players Leo Au Chun-ming and Liu Tsz-ling, windsurfers Chan Hei-man and Leung Ho-tsun, and badminton stars Tse Ying-suet and Wong Wing-ki have won the Outstanding Junior Athlete Awards for the first quarter of this year.
The awards were launched in 1999 and are organised by the Hong Kong Sports Institute.
Au and Liu both achieved excellent results at this year's 14th Asian Junior Squash Championships in India. They won a silver and bronze in the boys' and girls' singles, respectively.
Au said his elder sister Annie Au Wing-chi - a six-time award-winner - was his role model. 'My sister gives me great motivation. I'm happy that she supports me,' he said.
First-time winner Liu has set a target. She hopes to reach the quarter-finals of the World Junior Squash Championships to be held at the end of this month and the semi-finals of the 2011 Asian Junior Squash Championships.
Windsurfers Leung and Chan won a gold and silver medal, respectively, at the RS:X Youth World Championships held in Thailand in January.
'The gold medal I won at the Youth World Championships was the perfect ending to my junior athletic career. I am now looking forward to getting good results at the East Asian Games this year,' Leung said.
Chan, who will also take part in the Games, said: 'We are all eyeing the gold medal.'
Badminton player Wong, who won the award for the third time, clinched a bronze in the boys' singles at the Dutch Junior International this year.
Tse clinched a bronze in the girls' singles at the Yonex German Junior 2009.
In addition, swimmer Lum Ching-tat received a Certificate of Merit in recognition of his outstanding performances in the first quarter of this year.
Lum won three gold medals at the recent Asian Youth Games in Singapore.
The awards have a new sponsor - Zespri, a kiwi fruit brand based in New Zealand. On top of the usual cash prize of HK$2,500, a voucher worth HK$2,500 and a certificate, four award-winners with the best performance this year will get a chance to visit kiwi fruit farms in New Zealand.
