Car crash leads to Olympic gold dreams for Hong Kong badminton player
- The number two ranked para-badminton player in the world has his sights set on one goal: Olympic gold at the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo
- Hongkonger Daniel Chan, who lost his leg in a car crash in 2008, has now realised his dream of becoming a professional badminton player
Daniel Chan Ho Yuen’s life has been defined by a series of impactful moments.
The 34-year-old Hong Kong native first got into badminton along with football when he was nine years old. Chan was a striker in soccer, noting he loved to score.
“Then one day one of my schoolmates came to me and said, ‘How many goals can you make as a striker?’ And I said, ‘Two, maybe three if you’re lucky.’ But then in badminton at that time you could score 15 points a set if you win. So it was kind of simple mathematics, and badminton won.”
By 14, Chan was training four days a week in badminton, joining the Tsuen Wan junior squad, competing against other high schools in Hong Kong. But after graduation he went into the working world, landing a job in marketing for an electronic company, and badminton remained only as a hobby.
He said at this point, his dream of being a professional badminton athlete took a back seat to reality.
“Of course everyone wants to represent their country, or the place they are born. At that moment I wanted to, but my level of play was not high enough,” he said.