'I'm so close to the goal, I won't give up'

Editor's Note: Wu Pengbo, 17, is captain of the Tsinghua University high school basketball team, which has won the National High School Men's Basketball League for five years running.

I have had a passion for basketball since I was 10 years old and was later called up to my middle school's team.

Wu Pengbo plays for Tsinghua high school against Dalian students on Tuesday at Liuchangchun Gymnasium in Dalian. Lu Wenzheng / for China Daily

When I didn't do that well in a midterm test, my parents told me to quit the team, thinking it was affecting my studies. I cried that night. I said I didn't want to quit, and I promised to study harder. After a great effort, I did well in the next exam and they allowed me to continue playing.

To make morning training sessions, I got up at 5:30 am and was at school by 6 am. The coach was really good, but the conditions were poor. The school had no indoor court, so we could only play on the cement surface outside.

I'm from suburban Handan in Hebei province. My family is not rich. My parents sold shoes at a local market and couldn't afford basketball sneakers. I just wore common sports shoes, which wore out quickly on the uneven ground.

Nothing could have stopped me playing though I enjoy the game too much.

It was not until the second year of middle school that my father went to see one of my games. It was at a student tournament in another city and I was representing my hometown. I performed really well, and I saw the tears in my father's eyes after the game. I knew he was proud of me, and I'd never been so happy since I picked up a basketball. Now he is always cheering from the stands.

The high school attached to Tsinghua University is famous for its basketball titles and top-flight academic faculties. I failed my first two trials, and when I was eventually accepted I had to spend an extra year in third year to make up for the gap in my academic study. But it was well worth it.

For me, Jeremy Lin is an inspiration. Like him, I'm a point guard, the so-called engine of the team. The fact he has overcome so much hardship to prove himself in the NBA gives me the strength to carry on when I'm struggling. As a Harvard grad, he also proves that we can excel both on and off the court.

I think I'm moving in that direction. I have a good chance of studying at a top university in China, which was beyond my imagination a few years back. Several graduates of my school are also playing in the CBA, the domestic league I can join them as long as I continue to hone my skills.

I've come a long way to be here and I know there is still a long way ahead, but I won't give up.

Wu Pengbo was talking to Tang Yue.