Written by: Yeo Kee Juan
Edited by: Chen Kexin and Lydia Ong
Photos by: SMC Publicity
One of the many misconceptions about table tennis is that “it’s not a real sport”. I held that misbelief until I met Bryan Wee and Lu Zong Han. Displaying their focus and sharp movements, I could only watch in awe as they easily exchanged hits with their opponents. It was literally almost impossible to see the ball with the naked eye as I oscillated my head left and right in an attempt to catch-up. The only sensation I could process fast enough was the sound of the ball hitting the table (which was pretty satisfying, I have to admit).
After watching some matches, I decided I was ready to try out the sport. I mean, how hard could hitting a ping pong ball be? Well, I was quickly proven wrong... as I missed all my shots and even the only one I got flew a pretty large distance away from the table...
After such a terrible match, I knew I needed to do an in-depth interview with both Bryan and Zong Han to get to know more about them and their relationship with table tennis.
Bryan’s love for table tennis started all the way back when he was a small primary schoolboy. He may have been small at the age of 7, but his mind was already growing at an exponential rate. The sport had taught him the importance of a strong mind and seeing him today, it is clear that his brain has grown to be far more developed than us non-table tennis players! He also shared that the sheer amount of hitting techniques is what attracted him to continue growing and learning the sport. For us noobs, it is just about hitting the ball back but for Bryan, it is all about the spin, the angles and the speed. I honestly have no clue how he can hit such a fast ball with such accuracy and precision to score. Please do teach me senpai when I try joining again next year :”)).
Before the start of every competitive game, he smiles and shows his chill side to the opponent. Upon hearing that, I knew it was definitely a tactic employed by him to show off his shiny white smile, blinding them, while the chilling breeze of his aura scares them out of their wits. All exaggeration aside, his humility was a shocker to me as I tried to poke out his competitive side. When asked how he dominated and displayed superiority to his opponent, he replied: “to be humble after a win and respecting the opponent is my way of showing dominance”. OH MAH GOD, when I heard that sentence, I INSTANTLY became a fan. How do you resist that charm?
Bryan thrives under pressure. Even when he is losing, his mind never wanders. One strategy he shared with me, is that he slowly uses his towel to wipe his sweat but he is actually thinking of the next point. This big brain move definitely makes him stand out from the rest! He later comments: “I never choke, I love the pressure AHA”. He is truly a formidable opponent and is not an athlete to be messed with.
Zong Han had a similar start to Bryan, and had picked up table tennis at a young age during primary school. While she was introduced to the sport in Singapore, she only started formal training when she moved back to China. Her training was strict and lasted 3 hours, 5 times a week for a primary school kid!!! She also reminisces about the time where she had been punished to do 1800 squats in ONE TRAINING. That is some intense punishment a primary school kid should not be doing. But since Zong Han is a god in disguise, I am sure she breezed through it. Addicted to the feeling of being pushed to the limits and displaying her best of skills, she perseveres through her tough training. Her love for table tennis is definitely unquestionable.
Learning from the best, she remains humble. She shared with me a painful setback that she had in her first formal competition. During the competition, she won her first few matches with ease which made her “飘了” (roughly translated to floating) or overconfident. But in the next match, she was affected by an unexpected miss which made her panic and she was not able to get over it, losing the match. This was a turning point for Zong Han where she learned the importance of respect. Thank you for sharing and I am sure your learning experience will be inspirational to the readers.
“In China, there are 2 paths one can pursue: academics or sports”. While this sounds like a quote from a movie, it was a difficult reality for Zong Han. Choosing the academic path, she had no choice but to give up her love for sports (as there was no such thing as CCA in China). BUT, that was not the end, she decided to also join track and field! While there were no formal training sessions for her, she was still selected to participate in the league for both sports. The one question I had in my mind was how on earth was she this good when she had no training?! Well, she beat the Chinese system and instead SNEAKED OUT TO TRAIN EVERYDAY during her lessons. This was all happening even when she was in the FAST class where she was one of the top students in her school! Her talent is just beaming down at us and Bryan agrees, commenting that she is “DAM ZAI”. I am definitely interested to see the interaction between Bryan and Zong Han when zoning is lifted, and catch some sick plays between them!
To end, both Bryan and Zong Han shared with me a quote that they live by:
“I’m gonna fix this” - Zong Han Lu, our hero;
“I’M THE HIGHEST IN THE ROOM” - Bryan Wee, 21 and humble.
Those are some inspirational quotes that I am definitely adding to my bag of quotes to live by. Their fierce table tennis careers make them prominent freshies to look out for in the upcoming IHG. Catch them live there, and cheer on Bryan and Zong Han!
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