unsung heroes

Name Leung Tsz-man
School Ng Wah Catholic Secondary School
Grade Form Six
Sport Basketball

Achievements

Tsz-man, 17, was a member of the Hong Kong under-16 basketball squad. He now plays for Second Division team Yau Yau in the Hong Kong Basketball League.

This year he joined the District Sports Teams Training Scheme in basketball. He trained with reigning champions Kwun Tong Team. He was also selected for the Nike Basketball League last year.

Tsz-man is captain of his school's basketball team and has steered it from the third to the First Division of the inter-school competition.

Soundbite

'I fell in love with the sport when I was a Primary One student. I often went to a basketball court near my home to play. My mum took me to the court and looked after me when I was young,' Tsz-man says.

'Later, I started to have some proper training. I was in the Youth Athletes Training Scheme for six years and made many friends when I played for Wong Tai Sin District. We are still playing together on the same team, Yau Yau.

'I joined a three-point shooting competition with my teammates last year for fun. I didn't expect to win. I had to take 25 shots from five different angles in one minute.

'It was exciting to push myself to the limit. I managed to send a total of 10 balls through the hoop to become top scorer in the event.

'This year my team's target in the inter-school basketball competition is to enter the semi-finals. We lost our first two matches to Ying Wa College and Sing Yin Secondary School. They are the two strongest teams in our group.

'Ying Wa will likely top the group, but if we can win our remaining matches and Sing Yin lose at least two matches, we can still take second place.'

From his coach

'Tsz-man is a talented player. He is also good at reading match situations,' says James Adrian Chan Fai-hung, PE teacher and coach of the school's basketball team. 'I recruited him to the team when he was in Form One. At the time, he was still new to the sport. After years of training, he has gained high accuracy in shooting. In upcoming group matches, we will rely on Tsz-man's scoring skills and we hope he can help the team advance to the next round.'

Ambitions

'I aim to play in the inter-university competition next year. I want to be more competitive among shooting guards in my age group,' Tsz-man says.