Wong waiting on Rafa after winning Asian Games tennis gold
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Gold medallist Coleman Wong of Hong Kong posing on the podium during the men's singles medal ceremony on Oct 3.
PHOTO: REUTERS
- Coleman Wong won tennis gold at the Asian Games, becoming the first man from Hong Kong to achieve this and securing a place at the Olympics.
- Wong trains at the Rafa Nadal Academy in Spain, with Nadal and his team closely supporting his progress and planning.
- Wong looks forward to competing in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics and aims to keep improving his game.
AI generated
NAGOYA – Coleman Wong will be eagerly checking his phone for a message from Rafael Nadal after the Hong Kong player won tennis gold at the Asian Games on Oct 3, and with it, a place at the Olympics.
Wong beat China’s Wu Yibing 6-2, 6-4 and joins Wu’s fellow Chinese Wang Xiyu, who won the women’s final, as singles champions in Nagoya.
Wong, 22, is the first man from Hong Kong to win tennis gold.
He is ranked 100th in the world and at the 2025 US Open was the first Hong Kong male to reach the third round of a Grand Slam.
At 17, he decided to move to Spain to train at the Rafa Nadal Academy, and the Spanish great keeps abreast of how Wong is progressing.
Asked whether he had heard from Nadal following his golden triumph, Wong said: “I haven’t checked my messages. I don’t know. Let’s see.
“He always talks to my coaches to see how I’m doing, how the team atmosphere is like,” he added.
“Sometimes we have a meeting with him and uncle Toni (Nadal’s uncle) to see what’s going on, the situation.
“He knows what’s going on, the planning and everything. We always ask him what do we do at this moment, should we go here or what’s the plan.”
Wong can now start planning for Los Angeles 2028, which will be his first Olympics. “It’s going to be amazing, I’m going to be so excited,” he said.
“There’s still quite a long time to go, just trying to keep improving myself, see how far I can go.” AFP