I won't be resting on my laurels, vows Hong Kong's newest world champion Wu Siu-hong
Hong Kong star, returning from his outstanding Las Vegas title victory, will compete in two more events before ending his schedule for the year
Hong Kong "comeback kid" Wu Siu-hong has promised not to rest on his laurels after his epic World Cup triumph last week and will continue the journey by entering two more overseas tournaments before he ends his competition schedule for the year.
Returning to Hong Kong early Sunday morning after winning the 51st QubicaAMF World Cup in Las Vegas on Thursday (US time), the 31-year-old bowler plans to compete in the 15th Qatar Open World Tour, starting on Thursday in Doha and then the ABF Tour in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, starting on December 8 before taking a well-deserved break.
I guess it will sink in [title victory] after a few more days and then I have to get serious again and begin preparations for my next competition
Wu's victory in Las Vegas grabbed headlines all over the world in a historic first for Hong Kong.
The Hong Kong star defeated South Africa's Francois Louw 2-0 in the best-of-three games final at Sam's Town Bowling Centre.
News quickly filtered through and Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying was among the first high ranking officials to send out a congratulatory message to Wu.
Wu said his World Cup win "hasn't really sunk in yet" and felt he was still living in a dream.
Read: Wong Siu-hong makes history in Las Vegas
"I guess it will sink in [title victory] after a few more days and then I have to get serious again and begin preparations for my next competition. I will only be in Hong Kong for a few days before I leave for Doha," said Wu, who was diagnosed with testicular cancer in March 2014.
"I will continue to fight hard to win titles for Hong Kong, but I am going to approach these competition a bit differently. You always want to perform at your highest level whenever you compete at tournaments.
"Now that I have become more mature, I think I had been trying too hard to win. Sometimes you need to relax a bit if you want to perform your best," he said.
Hailed as a teenage prodigy at the age of 16 after capturing double gold medals at the 2001 East Asian Games, Wu finally lifted the one tournament he had been targeting for 17 years. The World Cup is considered one of the world's prestigious bowling titles with bowlers from 88 countries taking part and Wu said he was glad his name was finally inscribed on the trophy.
The World Cup was celebrating its 51st edition.
"I have carried the trophy so many times with me. It actually feels heavier than my bowling ball," quipped Wu.
Chief Executive Leung congratulated Wu on his government website saying: "With his exceptional skills, Mr Wu has become the first Hong Kong athlete to capture the gold medal in this competition, bringing glory to Hong Kong.
"What's more remarkable and admirable is that he overcame illness and continued to improve his skills, demonstrating resilience and perseverance as a Hong Kong athlete.
"I would like to extend my warmest congratulations to him and hope that he will continue to excel and strive for even better results."
Wu's outstanding achievement in Las Vegas was magnified by the revelation that he had battled first-stage testicular cancer six months before last year's Asian Games in Incheon.
Wu said his cancer had gone into remission and that he had completely recovered from his illness. He underwent chemotherapy, ending his treatment in May 2014.
"I go for a checkup every three months and so far all the [cancer] indexes are normal. I feel good and healthy," he said.
