Published: 12:06am, 17 Nov 2024Updated: 12:31am, 17 Nov 2024
It is not often three Olympic gold medallists and Hong Kong’s greatest athlete are gathered in a room together to discuss mental strength, sacrifice and what it takes to win, so when the opportunity arises you listen.
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The first day of the Post’s Family Business Summit closed with a panel featuring China tennis star Zheng Qinwen and Hong Kong’s Siobhan Haughey chatting with moderator Joe Tsai about their journeys to the pinnacle of their respective sports.
And just for good measure, Chinese twins Wang Liuyi and Wang Qianyi, who won gold in both the duet and teams events in artistic swimming in Paris, were in Saturday’s audience at the closed-door event at the Island Shangri-La.
That all are driven to succeed is a given, but what motivates them is as different as the “number of forehand techniques” Zheng said there were on the WTA Tour.
As an 11-year-old, she could not understand why others did not see her future as a tennis great as clearly as she did.
“Tennis was my dream, because since I was 10 years old I knew my final dream was to be in a [grand] slam, to try and reach as far as I can,” the world No 5 said. “And I was thinking sometimes, those coaches who don’t see my potential, are they blind or what?”