Citation:
Standing out in the athletic industry is never a cinch, especially for fresh-faced tennis enthusiast, 18-year-old Coleman Wong, whose sparkling athletic career belies the countless hurdles he surmounted.
But Coleman's experience speaks volumes about passion's magical power that can flatten all boundaries.
Becoming a tennis star at such a tender age meant inevitable sacrifices, given such an elusive dream.
What's more...
"I was tangled in a punishing quandary as I was forced to sacrifice my school life to pursue an athletic career."
He was also wrecked and bruised along the way.
As the pandemic took its ferocious swipes at Hong Kong, Coleman was stuck in town, unable to practise under stifling anti-virus measures while watching his partner Rafael Nadal nab one trophy after another.
He shed tears like distraught COVID victims did -- a momentous crossroads for him: "Should I continue my studies or make a jubilant comeback to the court?" He interrogated himself and even his parents.
Still, "I love tennis too much," He recounted. "Between school life and tennis, I chose the latter. You can't have it both ways."
And so he did -- traversing the world from Taiwan, Vietnam to Spain for intense training after half a year of pandemic-induced hiatus.
"History-making Hong Kong tennis star ecstatic tonight..." was how news presenters shared the palpable joy Coleman felt upon winning the US Open boys' doubles title.
With his persevering effort to cruise to victory came a hearty reward as well -- the University of Hong Kong accepting him via a top athletes admission scheme to study business with the help of online classes while he's overseas playing tennis.
Carrying the day in the 2024 Olympic Games appears a pipe dream, as does reaching the men's top 350 in tennis by the end of this season.
But as he obliterates boundaries one after another on his way to becoming an accomplished tennis player, he's devoting himself to his goals, hoping, one day, to not only surpass the top-350 milestone, but sail all the way to the 1st.
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