\u201cWhen we first met, he (Wyman) told me that he wanted to promote kabaddi in Hong Kong and needed a coach to do that. I was a bit doubtful of that since there was no kabaddi in Hong Kong and it would be extremely difficult to start from scratch,\u201d said Wai Chuen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 25-year-old, himself only picked up the game in his sophomore year in Taiwan, having no inkling of kabaddi before that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI could not understand why a university professor would be interested in doing this. But when I returned to Hong Kong for summer vacation, Wyman called me and told me that he\u2019s looking for a kabaddi coach for his summer class. It was only then that I realised that he was serious to develop kabaddi in Hong Kong,\u201d admitted Wai Chuen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wai Chuen, who pursued a Physical Education degree in Taiwan after finishing high school in Hong Kong, said that he had fallen in love with the game immediately after trying it at the invitation of his course mates from Taiwan and also because he had always had an affinity for contact sports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Unlike Hong Kong, kabaddi was introduced in Taiwan in 2008 and the University of Taipei was one of the first higher learning institutions to develop the game in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWyman not only asked me to teach kabaddi in Hong Kong but also invited me to do the planning and administrative work as well. This gave me a precious opportunity to learn about sports management,\u201d said Wai Chuen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wai Chuen was one of the several foreign players outside India, to be selected for the inaugural Indo International Premier Kabaddi League last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIn Hong Kong, very few people know about this game. No people have ever imagined there would be a Hong Kong kabaddi team. My friends and family totally supported me playing kabaddi and they are proud to see that we were able to form a team and bring the team to the international stage. Whenever there is live broadcast of my kabaddi games, they\u2019ll watch the games to support me!\u201d said Wai Chuen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He added that playing the sport had also opened a whole new world to him. In Taiwan, he had the opportunity to play in various Taiwanese national tournamenst including the President Cup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen I joined my university kabaddi team, I faced many challenges. Kabaddi is very competitive in Taiwan, and my university team is one of the top-notch teams. Our coach required us to train very hard to keep the high standard, said Wai Chuen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He added that his coach was not happy with the progress he was making and was dejected with the situation. Wai Chuen admitted that it was the support and encouragement from his friends that helped him progress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI used to be weak in raiding. I always asked myself, \u201chow come I can\u2019t touch the defenders like others?\u201d After many trials, I could finally touch the defenders. Till now, I still remember that moment of joy: \u201cI nailed it!\u201d It\u2019s the rewards of suffering,\u201d said Wai Chuen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The competitiveness in Taiwan, helped Wai Chuen take up his new role in Hong Kong with added vigour and confidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI feel very thankful for my Hong Kong teammates. I had never been a kabaddi coach, not to mention a national team. But all my Hong Kong teammates trusted me,\u201d said Wai Chuen, who also led the Hong Kong team to the Melaka World Cup Kabaddi last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe were new. It\u2019s difficult for us to make significant improvement to become as strong as other national teams in a short period of time. It\u2019s basically \u201cmission impossible\u201d but all my teammates were still totally committed to this game. I am really proud of them,\u201d said Wai Chuen, who is also into basketball and swimming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wai Chuen ranked the experience playing at the World Cup as one of the highlights of his budding kabaddi career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It was in Melaka that Hong Kong picked up their first ever international victory in the sport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe played against Norway in the World Cup. We had lost all the matches before this game, and many of us had picked up injuries. At half-time, we were trailing by three points. Yet, we told ourselves, \u201cWe have to do our best without any regrets,\u201d said Wai Chuen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Hong Kong side turned the tables in the remaining two quarter of the match and notched up a memorable victory by three points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen I heard the umpire blowing the whistle, I knelt on the ground and put my arms in the air, enjoying the moment of victory,\u201d said Wai Chuen, who just two years earlier was skeptical of making the journey. <\/p>\n\n\n\n While the player still sees many hurdles in developing the sport in Hong Kong, is also encouraged by the progress done so far.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cKabaddi is a minority game in Hong Kong. We do not have regular training venues or many players. But with its colonial history, Hong Kong has many South Asian population that is an advantage,\u201d said Wai Chuen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He added that the HKSU has been promoting kabaddi in schools and communities interested in promoting ethnic integration through sports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMany schools and NGOs have been collaborating with us to promote kabaddi. In our kabaddi demonstration and classes, many participants showed strong enthusiasm. I believe the number of players will grow in the future,\u201d said Wai Chuen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He added that at the elite level they still face problems of their own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe have no regular venue. For our every practice, we need to use 30 minutes to place the mats. After finishing our practice, we need to put them back to the storeroom. Furthermore, we can only have practice two to three times a week, which is not enough,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He was, however, full of praise of his teammates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOur team members are still very committed to this game. The commitment and teamwork have partially compensated for our inadequacy in training. But I still hope that we can have a regular venue to have more training sessions in a week,\u201d said Wai Chuen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He said that kabaddi being a team sport had instilled unity and commitment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou\u2019ll never walk alone when your teammates are always there for you. No pain no gain,\u201d said Wai Chuen.<\/p>\n\n\n In less than three years since the chance meeting in Taipei, kabaddi in Hong Kong is in good hands, and with pioneers like Wai Chuen and Wyman at the forefront.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBecause of kabaddi, I got so much new exposure, like travelling to different cities and meeting many interesting people. This greatly enhanced my self-confidence,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A chance meeting between two Hong Kongites in Taiwan helped set the foundation for the game of kabaddi in Hong Kong. The meeting took place in Taipei when Wong Wai Chuen, was studying at the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1943,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1942","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-profiles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theworldkabaddi.org\/latest\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1942","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theworldkabaddi.org\/latest\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theworldkabaddi.org\/latest\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theworldkabaddi.org\/latest\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theworldkabaddi.org\/latest\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1942"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.theworldkabaddi.org\/latest\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1942\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1944,"href":"https:\/\/www.theworldkabaddi.org\/latest\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1942\/revisions\/1944"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theworldkabaddi.org\/latest\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1943"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theworldkabaddi.org\/latest\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1942"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theworldkabaddi.org\/latest\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1942"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theworldkabaddi.org\/latest\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1942"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.gosports.com.my\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/wai-chuen-1-600x338.jpg\")
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