PETALING JAYA: For two-thirds of his life, rising national shuttler Tiew Wei Jie never picked up a badminton racquet.
The 18-year-old was more focused on his studies before his brother introduced him to the sport at the age of 12.
Even then, it was far from love at first sight.
Wei Jie struggled to adapt to training and found the sessions repetitive.
“I was not truly invested in the beginning.” said Wei Jie after a training session at the Academy Badminton Malaysia (ABM) today.
“The training was very monotonous and I became bored very quickly. Only after I started losing matches did I want to improve,”
That competitive streak has since become the hallmark of his personality, with Wei Jie admitting he has always enjoyed competing more than training.
Although a late bloomer, his desire to win continues to fuel his progress, even after his quarter-final exit at the Asian Junior Championships in Japan earlier this month.
The world No. 493 remains his own harshest critic, believing he should have done better against eventual champion Hong Tianyue of China.
“I didn’t do enough and should have performed better. My level of skill and my body were not in sync during the match,” said Wei Jie.
He has been working to sharpen his game ahead of his final appearance in the Malaysia Junior International Challenge from July 21-26.
“My coach pointed out my weakness at the front court and I have taken it upon myself to fix it,” he said.
“I’ll take it one point at a time and hope to go far,” added Wei Jie, who reached the semi-finals last year.
