Friday December 10, 2010
Wei Jian working hard to pile on the pounds
By NG WEI LOON
weiloon@thestar.com.my
Photos by M. AZHAR ARIF
PINT-sized junior shuttler Ong Wei Jian has been finding it hard to gain weight and beef up physically.
Despite having a big appetite during his regular meals, former national mixed and women’s doubles shuttler Chor Hooi Yee said the young talent has not put on weight.
“He showed tremendous progress last year. Although he had the opportunity to take part in the junior tournaments at national level this year, he has remained stagnant without showing outstanding improvement this year.
“We are concerned about his slow development. The year-end school holiday is a good period for him to put in the extra effort and attempt to make up for lost ground. He has a lot of catching up to do in becoming a more accomplished player,” she added.
Up and coming: Wei Jian in focus during training.
But, the 12-year-old from Kedah has not lost his hunger to challenge for honours at the national junior level.
Besides featuring in several junior tournaments over the recent school break, Wei Jian is also going through the paces four hours daily for six days a week under the care of Hooi Yee at her training centre in Cheras.
Wei Jian hopes he will achieve his aim in bringing his game to another level by increasing the frequency and intensity in training over the period.
“I have been coping with the training programme drawn up for me. The strenuous physical sessions have always been tough.
“Recently, I have been using a heavier racquet to attain more forceful execution of attacking strokes,” said Wei Jian, adding that it had always been enjoyable to spend his holidays with the training buddies at the centre.
It was a sweet outing for Wei Jian when he went on to bag a double, winning both the boys’ Under-12 singles and doubles for the second consecutive year at the Hooi Yee Sport Junior Badminton Championships recently.
After an easy victory over his partner Leong Wei Lun in the singles, Wei Jian-Wei Lun were forced to slog and came from a game down before securing the victory.
Hooi Yee admitted that Wei Jian needed to improve on his strength to threaten his opponents with better delivery of shots.
“He has been struggling to score the winners when his opponents pressure him with quality returns. He will need to overcome the difficulty when he is under pressure,” she said.
After showing promise as an emerging talent in age-group meets at state level, Wei Jian made his debut to feature at national junior competitions this year.
Although he was an early casualty, crashing out in the early round at the Malaysian Schools Sports Council (MSSM) tournament, Wei Jian paired up with Lee Zii Jia to emerge as one of the top boys’ Under-12 combinations at the National Junior Circuit.
Wei Jian said he was surprised that they went all the way to end their season on a winning note securing the top position at the Grand Prix finals.
Earlier, the duo were the champions and runners-up of the Zone A series at the first and second legs respectively while Wei Jian failed to clear the semi-finals at the top half of the draw on both occasions.
Fact File
Name: Ong Wei Jian
Date of Birth: June 25, 1998
Ht: 1.56m Wt: 37kg
School: SJK (C) Sin Min (Year Six)
Hobby: Playing badminton
Ambition: National shuttler
Favourite Sports Personality: Lee Chong Wei (Malaysia)
Achievements:
2007
- Kota Star Community Sports Club boys’ Under-10 champion
- Kedah boys’ Under-11 singles semi-finalist
2008
- Kota Star Community Sports Club boys’ Under-10 and Under-12 singles champion
- Kedah boys’ Under-10 singles runner-up
- Kedah boys’ Under-11 singles runner-up
2009
- Kedah boys’ Under-11 singles semi-finalist
- Kedah boys’ Under-12 singles runner-up
- MSS Kedah boys’ Under-12 singles and doubles runner-up
- Hooi Yee Sport Junior Badminton Championships boys’ Under-12 singles and doubles champion
2010
- Kedah boys’ Under-12 singles semi-finalist and doubles champion
- MSS Kedah boys’ Under-12 singles runner-up
- National Junior Circuit Zone A first leg boys’ Under-12 singles semi-finalist and doubles champion
- National Junior Circuit Zone A second leg boys’ Under-12 singles semi-finalist and doubles runner-up
- National Junior Grand Prix finals boys’ Under-12 doubles champion
- Bakti-MSSWP-Milo-DBKL Badminton Open boys’ Under-12 doubles runner-up
- Hooi Yee Sport Junior Badminton Championships boys’ Under-12 singles and doubles champion
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