These kids are having a ball
Despite the elimination of all Chinese singles players from the Australian Open, there’s still a large Chinese presence at Melbourne Park.
Funded by China Life Insurance, six Chinese ball kids had qualified from more than 100 candidates at home and are among 350 children serving at the Open — braving fiery summer heat and sometimes petulant players.
Jia Zhe, the most experienced of the six Chinese ball kids, has made it to Rod Laver Arena, the Open’s central court, after going through pre-event training and tests overseen by Australian professionals with his peers 10 days ahead of the tournament.
“It’s a great experience that I will cherish for a lifetime,” said Jia, who has been a ball kid at the Beijing-based China Open every year since 2012.
“I’ve been trained about the rules and traditions of the Australian Open. It’s all about hard work. I feel honored to be able to work with kids from other countries in Melbourne,” he said.
After signing an exchange agreement with the Australian Open in 2012, the China Open organizing team has been sending its own ball kids — six each year — to Melbourne to serve the biggest stars in the game.
At the women’s singles award ceremony of the 2013 Aussie Open, runner-up Li Na shared the spotlight with her much younger compatriot Wang Sining. The youngster attended the ceremony to be officially thanked by the tournament as one of the top ball kids.
China Open CEO Duan Gang and co-tournament director Thomas Ross visited the six Chinese kids earlier this week at Melbourne Park and presented them gifts to encourage them to deliver the best service.
Grand Slam events normally use only local recruits in deep rounds in the second week, but the impressive work of Chinese kids in Melbourne earned them special accolades, said Yin Kai, director of the China Open’s ball children program.