Organised by the Hong Kong Sports Institute (HKSI), the Sports for Hope Foundation (SFHF) Outstanding Junior Athlete Awards (OJAA) presentation ceremony for the 3rd quarter of 2017 took place at the HKSI today. A total of 26 junior athletes were awarded for their outstanding performance in this quarter.
Officiating guests included Miss Marie-Christine Lee, founder of the SFHF; Mr Pui Kwan-kay SBS MH, Vice-President of the Sports Federation & Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China (SF&OC); Miss Chui Wai-wah, Committee Member of the Hong Kong Sports Press Association (HKSPA); and Dr Trisha Leahy BBS, Chief Executive of the HKSI.
The recipients were Lo Sum-man and Tang Yu-hin (Karatedo), Hong Kong Youth (U19) Korfball Team, Nicholas Bezy (Sailing), Chan Sin-yuk, Cheng Nga-ching, Ho Ka-wing and Lui Hiu-lam (Squash), Ho Nam-wai (Swimming), Chan Ho-wah and Chan Yee-shun (Table Tennis), Yue Ching-ho and Zhang Zhengqi (Tennis), Oscar Coggins (Triathlon), Leung Pui-hei and Mak Cheuk-wing (Windsurfing), and Ng Tsz-chung and Michelle Yeung (Wushu).
Swimmer Ho Nam-wai was a new face to the OJAA. She won her first OJAA title this quarter by winning four medals at the 9th Asian Age Group Swimming Championships and two from the 5th Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games. She shared how she felt about swimming, “No matter how hard the training is, every day we still persist to have training on four swimming strokes and do our best. It is rather straightforward that all we have to do is to swim fast.” Without passion and determination, Ho believed that it would be hard to hold her sporting dream. “Sze Hang-yu is my role model because she is a good display of perseverance. I want to learn the spirit of never-give-up from her.”
Another new face belongs to sailor Nicholas Bezy. He achieved remarkable result in this quarter including a bronze medal at the LASER Radial Youth World Championships, where he competed with rivals from over 200 countries around the world. After graduated from high school in June, he immediately turned to full-time training. He shared, “Becoming a full-time athlete and being able to train with other dedicated athletes and guided by sports specialists has been a really great experience for me. It has made a huge difference in my performance and has prepared me for a much higher level of competition. I would not have been able to achieve this on my own without the support of the HKSI and the Hong Kong Sailing Federation. Competitive sailing is my sole focus at the moment and once I have achieved my goals I want to coach and pass on my knowledge to future generations.”
Michelle Yeung from Wushu could never forget the 9th Asian Junior Wushu Championships held in South Korea, where she won four gold medals in Changquan, Daoshu, Gunshu and Group Exhibition. She recalled,” From preparation until the election, and then from the training ground in Chongqing to the competition in South Korea, I stayed extremely focused and followed the instructions from the coach. Although I was very tired after training sessions, I watched the playback of my trainings and competitions over and over again because I want to find out my weaknesses and improve.” Her teammate, Ng Tsz-chung also won four medals at the same Championships and became one of the awardees of this quarter. He would share the joy with his family for being supportive in his sporting life.
Table tennis partners Chan Ho-wah and Chan Yee-shun had beaten down contestants from 10 regions to claim their cadet boys’ doubles title at the 2017 Hang Seng Hong Kong Junior & Cadet Open, as well as their OJAA title in this quarter. Both of them thanked SFHF for the recognition as it encouraged them to keep fighting for greater achievements. Lam Tsz-wing, one of the representatives of the Hong Kong Youth (U19) Korfball Team, also expressed his gratitude to the SFHF for the cash award which allows athletes to go farther with their korfball dreams. Triathlete Oscar Coggins agreed with Lam and said, “It is amazing that junior athletes receive a great deal of support to continue to pursue their goals.”
In addition, Chu Tsun-wai and Lee Sze-wing (Cycling), Chu Wai-chi and Ma Hok-him (Dancesport), Jasmine Claire Farrer and Lo Man-hei (Finswimming), Chan Cheuk-yee and Kho Tai-chi (Golf), Yue Wing-suet (Life Saving), Wong Cho-ying (Swimming), Lui Ching-nam and Wong Cheuk-yin (Taekwondo), and Jason Ng Tai-long Hardcastle (Triathlon) were awarded the Certificate of Merit for this quarter. To appreciate the hard work of other qualified junior athletes, the Certificate of Appreciation were presented to Duncan Gregor (Sailing) and Leung Chung-yan (Table Tennis – Hong Kong Sports Association for Persons with Intellectual Disability).
Organised by the HKSI and sponsored by the Sports for Hope Foundation since 2012, with support from the SF&OC and the HKSPA, the OJAA recognises the achievements of outstanding local junior athletes under the age of 19 on a quarterly basis. Each recipient is presented with a cash prize of HK$2,500, a sports voucher worth HK$2,500 and a certificate. For teams, they will receive a cash award of HK$10,000, a sport voucher worth HK$10,000 and certificates.
The HKSI is the Government’s elite sport training systems delivery agent and is committed to provide an environment in which sports talent can be identified, nurtured, and developed to pursue excellence in the international sporting arena and to inspire potential athletes to pursue a full-time sports career.
