Welsh-Chinese table tennis prodigy Anna Hursey dreams of Olympic medals and a carbon-free world
- The 14-year-old Wales national team member is a United Nations ‘young champion’ and received a call from the Biden administration last month
- Hursey, the youngest-ever Commonwealth Games competitor, recalls training in Tianjin under strict coaches and against older boys
British-Chinese table tennis player Anna Hursey is the youngest athlete in history to play at the Commonwealth Games, a Welsh national championships silver medallist, and is in talks with US president Joe Biden’s administration over how to define sport’s role in climate change. What were you up to aged 14?
Born in Camarthen, Wales to a Welsh father and Chinese mother, Hursey was appointed as a United Nations Sports for Climate Action Framework “young champion” in February for her ongoing vow to reduce her carbon footprint. She soon received a call across the pond from the US embassy, whose incumbent tasked it with getting the country to 100 per cent clean energy and zero emissions by 2050.
The teen is expecting another call from US ambassador to the UK, Yael Lempert, ahead of Earth Day this month. Hursey continues to speak up on environmental issues between homework, training and competitions.
“I remain carbon neutral by using as few fossil fuels as possible and offsetting my carbon footprint by investing in projects to help the environment and the poor,” Hursey told the Post.
“For my carbon emissions – which range from being in a car, to the things I buy or eat, to the electricity I use – I calculate from a carbon footprint calculator what I have used. For example, one month – two tons, I then offset this amount by investing in projects which help reduce the amount of carbon that month. I try to have as small carbon emissions as possible.”
The source of Hursey’s advocacy could perhaps be explained by her suffering from asthma. She previously explained to CNN that her breathing was only made worse during training camps and visits to the likes of pollution-heavy Beijing and Shanghai.
But the trips from Cardiff to the mainland were equally as crucial in terms of family and athletics. Wales Online reported her mother, Phoebe Zhang Xiuli, is originally from Harbin, Heilongjiang province so Hursey, her father Laurence, and stepbrother Wei Tiankun often pay relatives a visit.
Hursey, better known as Zhang Anna to those who watched her on Chinese TV after her history-making senior appearance as an 11-year-old at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, is a fluent Chinese speaker and briefly attended school in Harbin.
In 2019, she moved to Tianjin to work with high-level coaches in a full-time capacity at the Olympic Centre. She recalled training up to eight hours a day, often seven days a week, with lots of running and technical drills with boys aged 15 to 20.
“I started playing table tennis in China at the age of five. I have a lot to thank China for and I respect Chinese culture,” she said.
“I had amazing coaches and it definitely helped my game loads. Training in China is very hard and tiring, but so worth it. Training with boys is so different because they have different games to girls. They are much slower and have more power.”
Hursey has remained in Europe since winning silver at the 2020 Welsh National Championships as Covid-19 continues to limit travel. She is training at the national centre in Porto, Portugal and said a return to China is still unknown.
Hursey’s long-term goals are clear. Already a number one cadet player in the UK, she wants to cement herself in the senior set-up for both Wales and Great Britain.
“My goals are to win the European Youth Championship and medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and the 2024 [Summer] Olympics in Paris. [Being considered a national prospect] means the world. It’s just an amazing feeling when putting on the kit for Wales,” she said.
And to those who do not believe climate change is real or that the fight to prevent global warming is futile, Hursey added: “My message to them would be the facts are there, the Earth is warming, the ice glaciers are melting and the sea level is rising. Damage is happening to our beautiful world. Please do more research and all you can to help.”
