Chau Hoi Wah and Lee Chun Hei Try to Scale New Heights
Winning a gold medal is always the proven record of your success as an athlete. However, it could also be a setback when you become too conceited and arrogant. After winning a World Superseries in May, the ‘sister and brother troop’ Chau Hoi Wah Cathy and Lee Chun Hei Reginald did not just stop there. They aim for the YONEX-SUNRISE Hong Kong Open Badminton Championships 2015 in late November to strive for higher world rankings and their debut in the Rio Games.
‘We gave a hundred percent every match. We don’t want to lose’, said Cathy and Reginald. The pair has been playing as a team for 3 years. Their trust on each other makes them invincible and won their first Superseries ‘Australian Open’ in May by defeating Liu Cheng and Bao Yixin of China. Tim He, Head Coach of Hong Kong Team indicated this valuable victory put them on the top level of the badminton world. However, the pair was not complacent. They said, ‘No matter how valuable the victory was, it’s already in the past. You shouldn’t be carried away and let yourself feel like walking on a treadmill. We want to have a breakthrough every year.’
Hong Kong Mixed Doubles pairs have never participated in the Olympics. Cathy and Reginald, now rank top 10 in the world, have a great chance to set foot on the Olympics stage if they can keep their world ranking in top 13. Reginald thought he should place his mind at ease. He said, ‘It’s every important to enjoy every game. If you worry too much and have doubt about yourself, you can never make it or keep your ranking.’
Besides enjoying every game, Cathy and Reginald have a higher goal than just get the ticket to the Olympics. They said, ‘We are not going to the Olympics for a selfie! You got to aim higher! We need to keep up in the following tournaments and be well prepared.’
When talking about dealing with bad days, they said, ‘Of course we want medals and keep winning. We are professional athletes. When you stand on the court, you have to try your best and get breakthroughs. However, there are ups and downs. We got tired sometimes. Therefore, we learn to concentrate on each game and everything will be fine.’ In 2013, the pair has made their way to top 4 in YONEX-SUNRISE Hong Kong Open Badminton Championships. This year they will play against Liao Min Chun and Chen Hsiao Huan of Chinese Taipei in the first round. They said, ‘Our best memory of Hong Kong Open was in 2013, we had a breakthrough and got to top 4. We wish we will do better this year.’
YONEX-SUNRISE Hong Kong Open Badminton Championships 2015 will be held from 17th to 22nd November at Hong Kong Coliseum. It is one of the Badminton World Federation’s Superseries with total prize money of US$350,000. It has awarded “M” mark by Major Sports Events Committee for consecutive 11 years. A new event website (www.hkopenbadminton.org) will launched to provide update result and news of the Championships. Tickets are on sale at URBTIX outlets and website. There will be free admission with ticket for qualifying rounds on 17th November. To get qualifying rounds tickets, fans should send a stamped envelope to Hong Kong Badminton Association and each applicant will get 4 tickets and in a first come first serve basis. Enquiry hotline: 25048318 (by 11th November), 23331686(12th to 22nd November).