Interview With Hong Kong Women’s Star Kei Laam Lo

1- Can you give us a bit of a background of your Dodgeball playing career, and how you ended up representing your country?

I started playing dodgeball since primary 6. At that time i was playing the single-ball type of dodgeball. Till last year, I am promoted by my coach to try to play the multi-ball dodgeball. I think the multi-ball dodgeball game is much more challenging as I have to focus on more than one ball on the court at the same time. So I keep on practicing hard and hope to boost my skills on dodgeball in every perspective. Luckily, I got a chance to participate in the selection of Hong Kong team in the Asia-Pacific Championships 2017. I successfully become one of the members and have a good performance there. By the hard work and perseverance of our team, we, the Hong Kong Women Team and Mixed Team have been qualified for the coming World Cup. It is really an inspiring chance to show my strength in my dodgeball career.

2- Any highlights from your international career? Best games etc?

I think one of the highlights from my international career must be the 3rd place game versus Singapore in the Asia-Pacific Championships 2017. I represent Hong Kong Women Team and we fall behind Singapore Team at the beginning. However, our coach call for a time-out and calm us down. He thought that we were nervous and cannot perform well. So he told us not to be affected by the score and try to play the game as usual. Then, we slowly caught up the pace and chase back with the scores. We did a lot of catches and counter kills. With the planned tactics, we finally won the match and got the 3rd place which means that we are qualified for the World Cup. We are excited and some of us even burst into tears. It is because we can finally represent Hong Kong to own a place in the world dodgeball which is a huge recognition and motivation for us.

3- Hong Kong have qualified for the World Cup for the first time. How does it feel? Is there any nerves or pressure?

As Hong Kong have qualified for the World Cup for the first time, I am really looking forward to it. However, truth to tell, it also put pressure on me as it is the first time for me to participate in such a huge international competition. Although it brings pressure on me, I work hard to change the pressure into a motivation for improvement. I believe Hong Kong team must show our strengths on the court in the coming World Cup.

4- In Hong Kong and some of our other member nations the Single-Ball Dodgeball game is immensely popular. How do the skills developed playing this style of dodgeball translate over to the Multi-Ball game? Do you think this experience will advantage Hong Kong players at the World Cup?

I think the skills developed playing the Single-Ball dodgeball game can definitely translate over to the Multi-Ball dodgeball game. The ability to catch of our team is especially strong because we have get used to catch the powerful Single-Ball dodgeball. I believe this is the superiority of Hong Kong players and will advantage us at the World Cup by calling out the opponents with catches.

5- What’s your workout routine and training like in preparation for the 2018 Dodgeball World Cup? Any tips you can lend to aspiring dodgeball players?

Preparing for the 2018 Dodgeball World Cup is a long long way. We have been trained for almost a year. Every week we have at least two lessons of training which mainly focusing on personal skills and team cooperative tactics. Apart from that, we also spare time for enhancing our physical strengths, like doing workout in gym. Some tips for aspiring dodgeball players may include balancing training and rest. It is important to take enough rest so as to be concentrated on dodgeball court.

6- How does it feeling knowing that in under two months you’ll be playing in one of the most famous stadiums in the world, Madison Square Garden?

Knowing that I am going to play in one of the famous stadiums in the world, Madison Square Garden is my pleasure. I feel really proud that I can step on the stadium which the world’s famous sports stars also play at. I must cherish this opportunity to play exciting dodgeball games with the strong teams from all over the world.

7- One of the core beliefs of the Asian Dodgeball Federation is our #StrongerTogether campaign. So we’d love for you to share your thoughts on who you believe some of the best players in Asia-Pacific are. Who should we be looking out for?

#StrongerTogether is a fantastic campaign. Dodgeball is a team sport but not an individual sport. I believe one team can only win the game when team members are willing to strive towards a common goal. So, to be honest, I do not have some special players to recommend. Hope that you will look out for the performance of Hong Kong Team.

8- Any predictions for Hong Kong at the World Cup? Can Hong Kong win all the categories you qualified for?

To predict how Hong Kong will perform at the World Cup, I hope that we can get into top 3 in both Women and Mixed categories. We will try our best to create the best result ever in the world dodgeball game.

9- How do you think the other Asia-Pacific nations will go at the World Cup? Any nation you’d like to single out for being a favourite for success on this stage?

I think the other Asia-Pacific nations will also go competitively at the World Cup. As I have played against them in the Asia-Pacific Championships last year, I feel that they have strong individual ability with special team tactics. Some of them are quick while some of them are powerful. They have different advantages which brings various variables in the coming games.

Lastly some fun questions!

10- Where is the best place to eat in Hong Kong? And what’s your favourite national dish?

I think the best place to eat in Hong Kong is Central. My favourite national dish is probably dim sum. For example, steamed damplings and siu mai are my favourite kinds of dim sum. They are unique dish in Hong Kong and lots of tourists go to the traditional restaurants to try during their visit.

11- Which country in Asia-Pacific has the best food? Which dish is the best?

In Asia-Pacific, I think Hong Kong has the best food. Apart from dim sum that I have mentioned above, I think barbecued meat is also one of the best dishes in Hong Kong. The special barbecuing cooking method creates tasty and juicy meat. It is more preferred to eat with rice and Hong Kong-style onion sauce.