Black athlete Hui Ding becomes China's new sporting star Lausanne, April 16, 2009 – Hui Ding has been thrust into the world spotlight after becoming the first black player in history to be picked for the Chinese Men’s national team.
The 20-year-old Hangzhou native, whose father is South African and mother Chinese, became one of the most famous Chinese athletes overnight after head coach Jianan Zhou on Tuesday selected him in the squad that will train over the coming years for the 2012 London Olympics.
The 1.85-cm libero, who first caught the eye with his performances at the 2007 FIVB Boys’ Youth World Championship in which China finished second, has been subject to intense media interest in China and worldwide over the last couple of days, with stories appearing in newspapers such as China Daily and The Times of London.
Ding said, “It seems that what people and media are concerned about the most is my bloodline. However I do not care about that at all. What I am thinking is how to play Volleyball well in the national team and wish to win respect with my Volleyball skill. “While walking in the streets, people always consider me as a foreigner and talk with me in English, but I just speak Hangzhou dialect, which takes them by surprise. “I am Chinese, and a Hangzhou city native, born and grown up in the city. I am just an ordinary Volleyball player. I can only speak Mandarin and Zhejiang dialect and cannot speak any African language. My English is also not good,” said Ding.
Ding has most recently been playing for the Zhejiang provincial Volleyball team in the country’s top men’s league. He began his volleyball career at 10 when he was selected by the Hangzhou sports school, and entered the Zhejiang youth team in 2003 and the Chinese boys’ youth team in 2004.
Ding is hoping he can make an impression now he has stepped up another level: “The level of the national team is much higher than the provincial team and I am a new member. What I am going to do is to learn from my teammates and train hard so as to remain in the national team,” said Ding.
China head coach Zhou, who places Ding among the country's top five players on both defense and offense, said he selected Ding solely on his Volleyball ability: "Countless numbers of people have called me about this issue, but I just tell them that his ethnic background and family situation are his own private matter about which I have no opinion.
“The coaching staff has been watching him for some time ... his demeanor is the most important thing for me. He has a very active demeanor on the court, so he will bring a lot of fire to our team,” said Zhou.
Ding was raised by his single mother Yu Jianxiu. Ding has said he has never met his father nor seen a picture of him. The father left China before Ding was born. His mother is a staff member of Hangzhou municipal post office.
After he was picked for the national team Ding said, “My mother asked me to take care of myself and train hard all the time.”
Away from Volleyball, Ding loves basketball and worships retired NBA superstar Michael Jordan and China’s Yao Ming, the NBA’s tallest center who plays for the Houston Rockets.
Ding also likes singing and dancing to rock and roll and types of African music.
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