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At a prize presentation for the Hong Kong Sports Institute (HKSI) Outstanding Junior Athlete Awards held at the Cornwall Street Squash & Table Tennis Centre, Kowloon Tong today (Wednesday), badminton player Wong Wing-ki, squash player Au Wing-chi and tennis player Lam Siu-fai were named recipients of the Award for the first quarter of 2008.

Wong Wing-ki earned his first outstanding junior athlete title with his excellent performance by winning silver medals in mixed doubles in the Dutch Junior Badminton Championships 2008 and in men's singles in the German Junior International 2008 respectively. Winning this Award, Wong gave the credit to Head Badminton Coach Chan Chi-choi and his teammates. "Without their coaching and guidance, I may not make it this time. Of course, the support from my parents throughout the years also plays a significant part in this," said Wong. He showed appreciation to the HKSI for organising the Awards which is a confidence booster to young athletes and promised to continue striving for breakthroughs in the coming competitions. "Representing Hong Kong at 2012 Olympics is my target, I will work hard towards this," said Wong with determination.

In addition to the Award received today, 19-year-old Au Wing-chi has been named six-time winner of the Award. Au got the title by her exceptional performance in the British Junior Squash Open by winning a silver medal at the girl's under 19 division. This is also the best result that an individual Hong Kong junior squash player has ever achieved in one of the world's top junior tournaments.

"The Award is definitely a perfect wrap-up of my years at junior squad as I will be competing in the senior division soon," said Au with a grin. Au understands well the fierce competition she will be facing at the senior squad and she will work hard to face these challenges ahead. Au expressed her gratitude again on the support from her family and coaches as well as from the HKSI. The young player has been identified to join the sport after participating in the Searching for New Sport Stars programme in 2001.

Currently ranked Asia's number three in the group 14 & under, 14-year-old Lam Siu-fai got the Award by winning a bronze medal in boy's singles in ITF 14 & Under Asian Junior Championships 2008 held in Indonesia in March. Lam first started to play tennis at the age of nine and first represented Hong Kong in 2006 NIKE China National Junior Series Tournaments at the Under 12 category. "I'm really happy to have been selected for the title. I see this as a good scheme to recognise the effort of juniors and it can motivate us to achieve our goals," said Lam. "I see Melvin Tong, former Hong Kong number one tennis player, as my role model and will work hard to follow his footsteps to represent Hong Kong in the Davis Cup."

Each recipient received a cash prize of HK$2,500, sports gears voucher worth HK$2,500 and a certificate at the presentation. In addition, badminton player Chan Tsz-ka, table tennis players Chiu Chung-hei and Lee Ho-ching as well as triathlete Hui Wai-sum were each presented a certificate of merit to recognise their outstanding performance.

Presented by the HKSI with the support from the Sports Federation & Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China and the Hong Kong Sports Press Association, the Awards scheme aims to recognise the achievement of local junior athletes under the age of 19 on a quarterly basis.