Family’s the wind beneath Duncan’s wings

BUKIT JALIL: Family support is of utmost importance to any athlete.

And national junior squash player Duncan Lee (pic) cites the never-ending support of his family for helping his squash career grow.

It was also his mother who introduced Duncan to the sport when he was only eight years old.

“It was my mum’s friend who told her about squash and it was then that my mother brought me to training and I started to enjoy it,” he said.

“I started off as a social player just to have fun, I didn’t think about playing for the country.

“It was when I started to play really well that I started to consider and trained harder.”

And his hard work is paying off as was evident from the 16-year-old’s latest achievement in lifting the Under-19 CIMB Grand Final title last month.

He was in fine form as he didn’t drop a single game en route to winning the title.

In the final, he stamped his class to defeat the top seed Amir Amirul Azhar 11-4, 11-9, 11-9.

“I really wanted to win this and I was also under a lot of pressure as Amir is one year my junior, but I just told myself to relax and push hard for the win.

“And it wasn’t easy as he’s a very fit player, so I just tried to keep attacking him.”

And Duncan was quick to thank his parents after winning the title.

“My parents have always been my strongest supporters, whether I win or lose they’re always there for me,” said Duncan.

“There were times when no matter how hard I train, I still didn’t perform as well as I wanted to and I wanted to give up, but my parents continued to push me.”

Now his eyes are set on the Kuala Lumpur Junior Open next month and he wants another shot at the prestigious British Junior Open in January.

“I’m really happy to win the CIMB title and now I must work harder for the KL Open and British Open.”