athlete of the week

Name Mok Chi-sing
School Saviour Lutheran School
Grade From Three
Sport table tennis

Achievements Chi-sing, 15, is a member of the Hong Kong table tennis squad under the Hong Kong Sports Association for the Mentally Handicapped. He won three gold medals at the 2007 Special Olympics World Summer Games in Shanghai and a silver in the International Sports Federation for Persons with Intellectual Disability table tennis world championships in Japan last year.

Soundbite 'I started playing table tennis four years ago. I love sport because it is healthy for the body. I like to play table tennis because it gives me a sense of satisfaction when I win,' said Chi-sing.

'My family is very supportive of me playing table tennis. They always encourage me to play hard and not give up the sport. At the beginning I was not too keen on table tennis and often skipped practice. But eventually I found winning games extremely rewarding so I became more committed to the sport. Now I practise six days a week, two to three hours each day.'

From his coach 'When I first met Chi-sing, I thought he would be a good athlete because he had long limbs and strong muscles. So I recruited him to the table tennis team,' said coach Lam Chi-pang.

'He developed very quickly and became one of the team's top three players in a year. He is only 15 and still has a long way to go. I think he needs to improve his mental toughness in order to maintain his concentration during close games. In the future, I hope he can get into the top four in the world rankings.'

Ambition 'I don't really have a particular award that I want to win but I really want to play against the Polish team,' said Chi-sing.

'I lost to them in a tournament in Japan because I was not strong enough physically. I am working out in the gym to improve my physique. I am really looking forward to playing Poland again.'