By: Jessica Lin, Athletics Editor and Chief of Media

Though Alohi Sheung (10) looks like a typical high school student with his signature Champion-branded clothing and Herschel backpack, he is actually a nationally-ranked badminton athlete, representing the United States in tournaments around the world. His astounding athletic accomplishments have earned him numerous trophies, medals, and sponsorships from various companies, but he doesn’t play for the titles  — it’s for his love of the game itself. 

Sheung began playing badminton at the young age of seven. His parents are avid badminton fans, and love to play recreationally. Because he and his younger sister were too young, they were forced to follow their parents to the gym, where they would entertain themselves with a little DVD player and a stack of movies. When they grew tired of this routine, they were enrolled in a class to keep them too busy to bother their parents. Though Sheung was also participating in Kung Fu and swimming, he ultimately dropped them to focus on training for badminton at Bintang Badminton Academy in South San Francisco, where he continues to train today. It was difficult at first as the other kids in the group lesson were older than Sheung and thus stronger and faster. But he persisted through the losses and hasn’t looked back since. His favorite event is Boys Doubles due to the rapid pace of the game, though he looks up to Lee Chong Wei, a Malaysian Singles Badminton athlete, for his resilient and tenacious spirit. Presently, Sheung is ranked 4th in U17 Boys Singles, 10th in U17 Boys Doubles, and 13th in U17 Mix Doubles.

So what is it about Sheung that makes him such a talented badminton player? Is it natural talent or hard work? His sister, Kalea Sheung, credits his high level of skill towards a combination of both; she is also an outstanding badminton athlete, competing alongside her brother to represent the United States and hopefully Mills as a freshman in the fall. She explains that her brother is able to “envision rallies and scenarios inside his head,” allowing him to be creative and totally unpredictable with his shots. Due to the intense and multiple training sessions he attends every week, his endurance and speed are also top-notch. On average, Sheung trains 20 hours a week at Bintang, about the same amount of time a typical high-schooler works at a part-time job. The hours do fluctuate according to the importance of the upcoming tournament and how busy he is with schoolwork. Through a combination of 3-hour group sessions, 1-hour private lessons, doubling up practices during the weekends, and the occasional home workout, Sheung has ensured that his body is able to endure the intense physicality that comes with playing badminton at the level he is at. Kalea also points to a strong, positive mentality, praising her brother’s ability to both effectively lead during doubles events while elevating his partner’s mentality. He agrees with his sister, stating that an athlete’s mindset will make or break their game, especially once they have reached the level of physical stamina and technical skill and consistency that Sheung has. While many players allow the pressure of winning to get to them during the final few points of the match, Sheung strives to keep an optimistic mindset in order to pull away with a win. For example, if he has notched 20 points to his opponent’s 19, instead of focusing on how close their score is to his, he reminds himself that he only has one more point to win while his opponent needs three consecutive points. Athletes who cannot find this silver lining mindset tend to lose the match because panic causes frenzied plays that result in careless errors. 

Sheung averages about one tournament a month. Just a few weeks ago, he had the opportunity to compete at the Junior International Trials (JIT), where the athletes were all vying for a chance to participate at the 2019 Pan American Junior Badminton Championships as a member of Team USA. This year, JIT was held at Pomona, California, and Pan Ams will be located at Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada. At JIT, Sheung played in Boys Singles, Boys Doubles, and Mix Doubles with his sister. Unfortunately, he was not able to garner a spot on the team due to an untimely injury prior to the tournament that continued to worsen as he played. During a training session, his left ankle began to lock, cracking every time he used it to push off. At JIT, he overcompensated by keeping the majority of his weight on his right leg, resulting in a pulled sartorius muscle early on during his first Boys Double match when Sheung jumped for a kill shot. Though he persisted and kept playing through the pain, the injury became too heavy of a hinderance; he failed to make it out of his Boys Doubles Pool. Over the remainder of the tournament, his leg continued to bother him, and he finished fifth in both Boys Singles and Mix Doubles, missing a spot on Team USA by one rank. After the tournament, he allowed himself a two-week break from badminton, to recover both physically and mentally. It was a tough defeat, especially as he had been working towards this specific goal for two years and was looking forward to having the opportunity to beat his best result of Silver in Boys Doubles at Pan Ams. However, he now has his eyes set on an even bigger prize: representing Team USA at the World Junior Championships this summer in Kazan, Russia. Trials to make the team will be held at Livermore, California at the end of June and only the top 16 ranked athletes of each division are invited to compete; though Sheung has been invited before, he has not been able to work up the courage to try until now. This year, he has qualified for Boys Singles and Mix Doubles with Kalea, and he plans on participating in both events. While his immediate goals are impressive, his aspirations for the future are even more ambitious; Sheung is aiming for a spot in the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. 

For the majority of the tournaments Sheung participates in, events are individualized, meaning that the points he garners from his final results do not go towards a team bank, but rather his own standings. However, he values team commitment and school pride as well, choosing to represent Mills Varsity Badminton in the Spring both this and last season. In just his freshman season, he quickly demonstrated his high level of skill and became one of the strongest players in the Bay Division after only a few competitive matches. A constant fixture in Boys Singles Rank 1, Mills Varsity Badminton Coach Yin Lin joyfully recalls how relieving it was to “always have one automatic win from Alohi.” Due to his seemingly guaranteed point, Coach Lin only had to build up seven more wins to secure the match for Mills. Finishing the season with an impressive 13-1 record, Sheung easily won the title Mills Athletics Most Valuable Player Boys Award, but the achievements did not stop there. Post-regular season, he continued to represent Mills, placing first in Boys Singles of Bay Division Finals, first in PAL Finals, fifth in CCS Championships, and second in Consolation Bracket of Norcal Championships. By competing in Championships, he encountered another advantage to playing school badminton that he hadn’t considered — getting the opportunity to play opponents he would usually face in tournaments without his standing being affected. This season, he has continued to strengthen his record, even jumping into different events to train his teammates for doubles. Keefer Yip (10), Sheung’s Boys Doubles Rank 1 partner, recalls how terrifying and intimidating it was playing with Sheung the first time due to his encyclopedic knowledge of the game, but commends him for being “very encouraging and positive despite the outcome of the game.” Sheung loves playing with Yip as well as his other teammates, enjoying that school badminton provides him the chance to form new friendships with students of different grade levels. 

Even though Sheung is only a sophomore, he has already segmented himself as one of the Mills’ most gifted and talented badminton athletes. The Thunderbolt would like to congratulate Alohi Sheung for all of his achievements, whether they be for representing himself, Mills, or the United States, and wishes him the best of luck in his future endeavors! 

Team Player: Though injured and unable to compete against Westmoor, Sheung still helps others to warmup.

Photo Credits: Jessica Lin, The Thunderbolt