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Nicholas Lum wins Australian Junior Player of the Year Award
Published Tue 24 Nov 2020
Rising star Nicholas Lum capped off an incredible run, winning Table Tennis Australia’s (TTA) Michael Szabados Award as the Australian Junior Player of the Year.
The award and title is the highest honour for an Australian junior player and is awarded annually based on performance and results, combined with an athlete’s conduct.
A first-time recipient of the Award, Lum continued his upward trajectory during the assessment period, in particular:
- 2019 ITTF-Oceania Junior Championships, Tonga: gold in Junior Boys Teams, Junior Boys Doubles and Cadet Boys Doubles, silver in Cadet Boys Singles, bronze in Junior Mixed Doubles
- 2019 World Junior Championships, Thailand: Representing Australia and defeating older and higher ranked opponents from Nigeria and Egypt.
- 2020 Janos Molnar International Tournament, Hungary: silver in Junior Boys Singles, bronze in Cadet Boys Singles
- 2020 World Junior Circuit Czech Junior & Cadet Open: silver in Cadet Boys Teams and Cadet Boys Doubles, bronze in Junior Boys Doubles
- 2020 Safirs International Tournament, Sweden: silver in U/16 Boys Singles
Although his results at a senior level did not contribute to him claiming this title and award, it must be noted he also won Stage 1 of the Australian Olympic Qualification Tournament and finished third in Stage 2. Lum also won gold in the Men’s Doubles and bronze in the Men’s Singles at the 2019 ITTF-Oceania Tour Australian Open.
Lum said he was humbled by receiving the Award, recognising the talented players who have claimed the title before him.
“It’s a great honour. There are a lot of good players who have won this award in the past, so overall I’m very happy to win this award.
“For me, the stand out performance of mine for the year was during the European Tour in February and March where I won six medals over three events and also finished third at the Australian Olympic trials,” he said.
“I’m obviously disappointed that I missed out on some very big international events this year due to Covid-19, however during this period I’ve increased my training load and I’m looking forward to a big 2021.
TTA Chief Executive Scott Houston said Lum was deserving of this Award, with the results speaking for themselves.
“Nicholas is one of our most talented junior athletes in Australia today. His results this year were incredibly strong, to the point he was putting up a real fight against some of the regions strongest Senior players,” Houston said.
“Congratulations Nicholas, keep pursuing your dreams and we’re looking forward to you rising up into the senior ranks and going on to have a long and successful career.”
Under normal circumstances the assessment period would have been from immediately after the 2019 National Junior Championships, until completion of the 2020 National Junior Championships. However, with COVID-19 causing the cancellation of the event this year, TTA and the National Selection Panel determined that presenting the award at the end of 2020 was the most appropriate way forward.
