Andy Yee Hon-fai is tall - very tall. At 1.93 metres, he is a commanding presence both on the basketball court and in school.
The student at La Salle College played a key role in helping his school team break the dominance of Ying Wa College and Diocesan Boys' School (DBS) in the Kowloon division of the Inter-school Basketball Competition.
The turning point for his team came last November during a match against DBS. 'Just before the end of the game we were still one point behind,' recalls the 16-year-old Form Five student. 'But then we earned two penalty shots and won by a single point.'
The win - thanks to those last two points Andy scored - meant his school progressed to the final, where they lost to Ying Wa College. They were also beaten by the same team in the final of the Panasonic Cup Schools' Basketball Championship, although at one stage La Salle were ahead by 10 points.
Yet Andy has helped turn his team into a formidable force. He will also strengthen the ranks of Hong Kong's basketball team at the All China Secondary School Students' Games this July in Inner Mongolia.
He expects the team will have difficult matches ahead. 'Many [mainland] players are tall and muscular - taller even than me. We might get the feeling that we are up against a 'Great Wall of China' on the court,' Andy jokes. He should know: this year he attended the Nike All China High Schools Basketball League, where the Hong Kong team made it to the semi-finals only to lose to a powerful school team from Beijing.
