If you met Lee Xin Ni at a mall, you’ll be
forgiven for thinking this 13 year old is a pushover. Shy in demeanor, she obviously
doesn’t speak much but when she does, it hits the ball (pun intended).
Although she is yet a household name, Xin
Ni was in the sports spotlight when she won her third singles match over Poland
at the 2019 International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) World Cadet Challenge.
Her win meant the Hopes Team, that she was part of, went into the Finals to
meet Team Europe.
Lee Xin Ni (1st from Right) with her ITTF Teammates with their Silver medals. Photo courtesy of TTAM
Meanwhile, she won the bronze medal for
mixed doubles with 16 year old partner Choong Javen at the 56th
Malaysia Open Table Tennis Tournament held in December 2019.
So what makes Xin Ni
tick?
She lives with the
mottos, “Have a dream” and “Work Hard”.
And she does work hard indeed! Practicing six to seven days a week, her
training begins at 5pm. She says she begins by stretching for about 15 minutes
then move on to warming up with some table tennis with her sparring partner or
senior players. After that is 1.5 hours of drill practice where her coaches will
help her improve her technique. Next, she plays some matches before cooling
down.
But the sacrifices are
worth it. As of our interview, Xin Ni has visited no less than 12 countries and
met friends from around the world, all thanks to table tennis She also enjoys
being able to try the different cuisine each country offers.
But her mind is not
always on food though. Just like every professional athlete, she always
prepares herself before going for a tournament. Aside from setting a personal goal, she also will take the
time to study her opponents.
Shy and sweet, Lee Xin Ni is a smash on the table tennis circuit
She takes competing
seriously because she “enjoys the fighting process.”
Lee Xin Ni started playing table tennis at the age of six with the encouragement of her mother who used to play table tennis for her school. When asked if she considers table tennis a physical exercise, she replies, “Yes, because it can improve your speed, response, eyesight, judgment, and determination.”
So what’s next for this fireball? Hopefully we will see more of Lee Xin Ni in the near future and who knows, she may be competing in the Olympics in the near future!
Asia Fitness Today’s interview with Lee Xin Ni was held at the Table Tennis Association of Malaysia and was conducted by our intern, Dany Haiqal.
The juniors gave seniors a scare during the 56th Malaysia Open Table Tennis Tournament held at Dewan Sekolah Menengah Pay Fong, Malacca from 17 to 20 December, 2019.
It was a nail biting match in the quarter-final stage when 13-year old Low Yu Xuan from Malacca had a good chance to eliminate Podium Programme player Ho Ying of Johor. Yu Xuan took the first two games 11-7, 11-7 and putting everyone on the edge of their seats at 11-11 before losing the third game 11-13 to Ho Ying. Ho Ying then went on to win the fourth game with 11-7. It was another thrilling match in the fifth game when both players were at 10-10 level score. But experience gave the win to Ho Ying who won the match 12-10 winning overall (3-2) against Yu Xuan.
Ho Ying went on to win the rest of her matches taking the gold medal defeating Karen Lyne Ak Dick (Sarawak) in the finals with the score of (4-1). Joint bronze winners were SEA Games 2019 bound players Tee Ai Xin (Johor) and Alice Chang Li Sian (Sarawak).
“The succession plan which TTAM has been advocating and practising is working well. Seniors can’t take their senior positions lightly nowadays just because they are seniors. We have many promising hopes players, mainly the girls, and they perform very well despite playing against much older opponents in this tournament.
“We need to nurture these young talents and we are certain with proper guidance and training they will mature into international medal winners,” said Dato Michael Tiah, Vice President, TTAM.
Other junior players who played commendably against seniors were 17-year old Too Ying Chuen (Sarawak) who partnered Christopher Isaac Goh (Sarawak) to win the men doubles bronze, 16-year old Im Li Ying and 13-year old Lim Jing Shuen (Kuala Lumpur) who won bronze in the women doubles category as well as 13-year old Lee Xin Ni (Selangor) who partnered 16-year old Choong Javen to win bronze in the mixed doubles category.
The 56th Malaysia Open Tournament consists of men team, women team, women singles, women doubles, men singles, men doubles and mixed doubles.
Kuala Lumpur Team Receiving their gold medal from Dato Michael Tiah Dato Michael Tiah, Malacca TTA president Tan Poh Chuan and committee member
In the women’s doubles, Ho Ying & Tee Ai Xin (Johor) took the gold eliminating Alice Chang Li Sian & Karen Lyne Ak Dick (Sarawak) in the finals with the score of (3-1). The joint bronze winner pairs were Look Lee Peng & Oh Yong Xia (Pulau Pinang) and Im Li Ying & Lim Jing Shuen (Kuala Lumpur).
In the men’s singles category, Choong Javen (Selangor), bronze medallist at the recent SEA Games 2019 defeated Muhd Shakirin bin Ibrahim (Angkatan Tentera Malaysia) in the finals for the gold medal with the score of (4-1). The joint bronze winners were Danny Ng Wann Sing (Kuala Lumpur) and Wong Qi Shen (Kedah), also a SEA Games 2019 bronze medallist.
The tournament also saw a hard-fought win by the pair of Muhd Ashraf Haiqal bin Rizal & Mohd Hashri Fikri against Muhd Shakirin bin Ibrahim & Chai Kian Beng (Angkatan Tentera Malaysia) with a score of (3-2) in the men’s doubles event. The joint bronze winners were Choong Javen & Amos Ling Yi Heng (Selangor) and Christopher Issac Goh Kho Hian Hui & Too Ying Chuen (Sarawak).
Mohd Hashri Fikri who is an ex national player in 2018 is now back to train with the national team since August 2019 and has shown impressive play.
“He managed to get into the top 10 list and in fact can beat many of the trainees in the national team,” observed Dato Michael Tiah.
“Under our high impact performance training programme and selecting players based on merit of play, all players need to be consistent and at their best at all times. We are pleased to see the standard and quality of play from the players have levelled up and bar has been raised,” Dato Michael Tiah explained.
In the mixed team event, gold was won by Tan Yi Heng & Lim Jing Shuen (Kuala Lumpur) who went against Christopher Issac Goh Kho Hian Hui & Alice Chang Li Sian (Sarawak) in the finals with a score of (3-1). The joint bronze winners were Ong Cheong Sae & Ho Ying (Johor) and Choong Javen & Lee Xin Ni (Selangor).
Last but not least, in the men’s team event, Team Kuala Lumpur (A) took the gold, Selangor (A) took silver and team Angkatan Tentera Malaysia settled for bronze. In the women’s team event, Team Johor took the gold, followed by Team Sarawak (silver) and Team Kedah (bronze).
Organized by the Malacca Table Tennis Association, the 56th Malaysia Open Table Tennis Tournament, drew a total of 130 participants from 10 states and 2 Federal Territories.
The Malaysia Open Table Tennis Tournament is where all top players nationwide congregate to compete for the prestigious status as crème de la crème of Malaysia’s table tennis contingent to represent the country in International Table Tennis tournaments.
It was definitely grueling and competitive. Apart from showing off their talents, players are to demonstrate qualities of sportsmanship, ethics, teamwork, professional conduct as well as respect for other players, coaches, umpires and officials.
As the tournament is aimed at scouting talents to represent Malaysia internationally, the following new initiatives were taken to make the tournament more exciting:
a) To allow 2018 Men and Women’s team event Champion and Runner-up to send 2 teams.
b) To reward cash prizes for both Men’s and Women’s team event.
c) Top 10 players from this Championships will be given an option to train with the national training team next year.
Results Summary
d) Cash prizes of RM10,000 is sponsored by Vice President TTAM, Dato Michael Tiah.
When I was 13, I had just entered high school and it was a new school too! I was trying to adjust to not only a new school but a higher level of education. To be honest, at this age I was just trying to go with the flow and trying to find a foot in society. But this is not the case for Malaysia’s Lee Xin Ni.
I thought I was awesome making new friends in a new school but Miss Lee is cooler than that. This 13-year-old has been busy playing table tennis. So busy that she recently won her third singles match win at the 2019 ITTF World Cadet Challenge in Wladyslawowo, Poland.
This Under 15 player is part of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Hopes team and her recent win meant that her team is going into the final round to meet team Europe.
A total eight teams from Asia, Europe, North America, Latin America, Africa, Oceania, Hopes, and host team Poland participated in 2019 ITTF World Cadet Challenge held from 26 – 28 October, 2019. Players for the tournament were selected from the Continental Junior Championships, World Rankings, or coaches’ decisions from each continent.
Lee Xin Ni has been selected by ITTF to be a member for the 2019 World Hopes Team since 14 August, 2019. ITTF Hopes Programme is a series of events at national, regional, continental and world level featuring education, training camps, competition, and talent identification.
Selected Hopes team players must demonstrate qualities of sportsmanship, such as training ethics, respect for other players, coaches and teamwork.
At the 2019 ITTF World Cadet Challenge, Xin Ni played in two key matches that helped ITTF Hopes team finished as group champion and thereafter in the semi-finals sealing ITTF Hopes team a Final outing.
In the 3rd group match against Latin America, Xin Ni playing as 3rd singles, beat Latin America player Divina Ding 3-0 (11-4,11-5,11-8). ITTF Hopes team went on to win 4-1 to be group champion. In the semi-finals playoff against Poland, Xin Ni again played 3rd singles and won 3-2 in an exciting, gruelling match, showing her steel despite under pressure to bring in the winning point. Xin Ni won her match 8-11, 12-10,11-8, 6-11,11-9 against Polish player Ilona Sztwiertnia. ITTF Hopes team went on to win 3-1 against Poland.
Lee Xin Ni (1st from Right) with her ITTF Teammates with their Silver medals.
The rest of Hopes team members are Ser Li Qian (Singapore), Sophie Earley (Ireland) and Emily Tan (USA).
Hopes team, however, lost 0-3 to team Europe in the Finals. Xin Ni did not play in the Final.
Table Tennis Association Malaysia (TTAM) Vice President, Dr. Chin Kuen Liang said, “Although Xin Ni did not get to play in the Final match, she has shown exemplary and commendable attitude and progress. There’s always a tremendous pressure playing in the 3rd singles to bring in the winning point and Xin Ni did it, demonstrating much maturity and skills in the two important matches.”
TTAM’s reinvention exercise, he said which focuses on emulating a “high impact performance” model is showing results.
“We are pleased that TTAM’s plan to have smooth succession of players to become podium abled athletes of world standing, is moving in the right direction,” Dr. Chin added.
