Recalling when her son Deng Haolin saw badminton for the first time, Deng Xiuhua said: “A group of mothers suggested playing badminton, but my son was only two or three years old at the time and had to ride in a stroller… I said I couldn’t play if he made a noise, but I didn’t expect him to be very angry. Sleeping quietly, opening my eyes and looking at the court quietly, I continued playing smoothly.” At the age of nine, Deng Haolin picked up a badminton racket for the first time. “He watched me play badminton when he was a child, maybe a lot. When I was 9 years old, I discovered that he seemed to be really talented with a badminton racket,” recalled his mother, Deng Xiuhua. The 20-year-old Deng Haolin has been playing badminton for 11 years. From watching the game on the sidelines to receiving training, he was later selected for the state team and then became a member of the Australian national team. “(My mother) didn’t put any pressure on me. I could fight if I wanted to, and if I didn’t want to fight, I wouldn’t. In this way, I would want to fight instead of being forced. It was my choice,” Deng Haolin said.
Deng Xiuhua laughed and said that she regarded the badminton class as a nursery and did not care too much about whether her son was playing well: “My husband and I were running a fast food restaurant at the time and had no time to take care of him. After sending him to the court, we went back to do business and picked him up at 10 o’clock. . Some parents said to me, ‘Your son has some potential,’ and I replied, ‘Really?’ because I have never seen him in class.”
Many Chinese parents feel that their children have invested a lot of time and energy, so they really hope they can win the first place, but they don’t know how to help their children.
Deng Xiuhua
Cultivation of new badminton stars
Tang Xiuhua was a volleyball player in Hong Kong. She immigrated to Australia in 1993. By chance, she became an amateur badminton player and later worked in a badminton hall. Under the influence of his mother, not only the youngest son Deng Haolin, but also his two elder brothers were influenced by badminton. The eldest son started learning badminton when he was 14 years old. Later, he was defeated miserably in a professional match by a state team player who had been practicing since childhood and decided to give up pursuing a professional career. Deng Xiuhua said: “I asked my eldest son at that time, are you afraid of failure or what? He said that seeing the high standards of the state team, he did not want to waste time and spend a lot of energy chasing this standard, and would rather spend his time studying. I understood his choice and later let him participate in community competitions, and he became the captain of the school badminton team. From this incident, she learned that “parents should match their children’s personalities and understand what they want…” … It’s their decision to fight or not to fight, and our role is just to support and encourage.”
“Some kids will become lazy if you don’t push them; but some push them too much. I have been working on the golf course for more than ten years, and I have seen children who play very well cut off the strings of their rackets and say they will never play again.”
A photo of Tang Haolin (second from left) and his family of five when he was a child. His two older brothers also played badminton but did not pursue a professional career. Source: Supplied
With the experience of raising her eldest son and her experience as an athlete, Deng Xiuhua gave Deng Haolin more patience and freedom and was more intentional about cultivating his independence. “He started to achieve some results from the age of 13 and needed to play more matches. His doubles partner was in Melbourne and I told him I can’t go with you every time, you have to deal with it yourself.” “I took him on two flights . He cried when they were separated for the first time and couldn’t bear it; the second time he said, “I can do it, Mom, let’s go.” So you must let the children go out to practice. “In addition to going to Melbourne, Deng Haolin also often goes abroad. Training and competition; even if he stayed in Sydney, he kept swinging the racket. He had to sacrifice school time and switch to online classes and reduce subjects. The reward for his hard work is that he won the Australian National Badminton Championship men’s singles championship for the first time last year, and this year he won the third place in the men’s singles at the Oceania Badminton Championships. Asked why he had to make such a big sacrifice to continue playing, Deng Haolin said: “I have made friends and achieved some results. I like the feeling of winning. Now that I am the number one player of the national team, it is still a bit stressful. I don’t I may stop playing, but I must practice and play games.” In an interview with SBS Chinese, he revealed that his idols are Malaysian player Lee Zi Jia and retired Chinese player Lin Dan.
His short-term goal is to defend this year’s All-Australian men’s singles title and improve the world ranking from the current 159th to within 140th.
Mother and son go into battle
Although he has achieved good results in the Australian badminton world, Deng Haolin lamented that “there are people outside the world.” He has recently participated in international challenges in Vietnam, Thailand and China. He said: “The opponents outside are very strong, and Australia really can’t compare.” “I will be disappointed if I play worse than my opponents. I will continue to train hard when I return to Australia, hoping to make progress… I will not just want to win. I just want to play my best.” Although Deng Xiuhua could not accompany him to travel around to compete, she gave her full financial and spiritual support. She said: “I gave him pocket money every time, in Thai baht and RMB. , he can buy whatever he likes and relax…I will tell him, ‘You can do it’, ‘Get more points.'” In addition to being a supporter, Deng Xiuhua also became teammates with Deng Haolin and participated in mixed doubles events in amateur events. . Although they are amateurs, many of the contestants are members of the state team: “The opponents are relatively strong, and we really have to rely on him (Deng Haolin), but we still made it to the finals.”
Although the mother-son show will be refreshing to the audience, Deng Xiuhua said with a smile that she was often scolded by her son on the court: “He would blame me, I couldn’t catch this ball, I couldn’t catch that ball, but I hit the ball that wasn’t mine. These things I understand, so I tolerate him.”
Left: Deng Haolin mother and son took a photo after winning the trophy. Right: Deng Haolin and his mother formed a mother-son team and won the doubles runner-up. Source: Supplied
Now, mother and son are looking forward to another competition venue: the Paris Olympics, which will kick off in July this year. In response to SBS Chinese’s inquiry, Badminton Australia stated that it still needs to wait for the International Badminton Federation (BWF) to confirm the participation quotas for Oceania and Australia on May 13, and the official list of Australian national team representatives will be Announced on May 16th. According to the qualification rules, there are 38 quotas for badminton men’s singles in the Olympic Games, including at least one quota from each continent. This means that according to the International Badminton Federation’s Olympic qualification rankings as of April 30, Deng Haolin, currently ranked 38th and No. 1 in Oceania, has a chance to participate in the Olympics. Deng Xiuhua said that if it comes true, this will be a belated “Mother’s Day gift” and can also encourage her son to compete more confidently: “His recent performance in the Thomas Cup (Thomas Cup) competition is also good. This It is also a good experience for him…but everything has to wait until the conference announces whether he will be selected for the list.” Although this “big gift” is still unknown, Deng Haolin expressed his gratitude on Mother’s Day: “I want to thank you. Mom, I have put in a lot of hard work and money to achieve this result.” Welcome to download the SBS Audio app and follow Mandarin. You can also listen to and download SBS Mandarin audio stories at any time through podcast platforms such as Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Please follow SBS Chinese at and to learn more Australian news.