A high fever caused his height to increase by 10 centimeters
Before he came into contact with basketball at the age of 10, Jiageng was an athlete in Setapak’s primary school. He was not a problem in track and field, badminton, table tennis, etc. His father also sent him to the badminton academy for professional training.
The transformation occurred when he joined a friend’s basketball “game” during a school holiday and soon began attending ball games.
Jiageng was 172 centimeters tall when he was 12 years old. After he was admitted to the hospital with a high fever, his height even increased by more than 10 centimeters.
At the age of 14, he represented Kuala Lumpur in the national competition for the first time. He skipped the Lim Boon Chak Cup (for 15 years old and under) and directly challenged the 17-year-old and under. After the game, he was selected for the National Youth Team. Then he completely destroyed the opponent’s paint area and scored 28 points in the international competition against Japan. Unfortunately, it was not enough to help the Malaysian team upset.
In the rebellious period of youth, I went astray and gave up basketball.
Tired of the day-to-day training life and tired of waking up bleary-eyed at 4 a.m. to lift dumbbells and run at Jingwu Mountain opposite the Malaysian Basketball Association, Jiageng made the decision to quit the national youth team at the age of 16.
The rebellious period is the only way for children to grow up. Jiageng admitted in an exclusive interview with “Sing Chew Sports”, “I took the wrong path at that time. I made bad friends, smoked, drank, gambled on horse racing machines, etc. I learned bad things, lost my way, and was very wanton.”
When he went astray, he entered social work at the age of 18, gradually drifting away from the orange ball.
Dragon fighting chicken boss beckons
Jiageng ushered in the “Take Two” of his basketball career
Until 2020, Kuala Lumpur Fighting Chicken team owner Guan Guangrong came to him. Jiageng recalled, “Not everyone will get a second chance.”
He hoped to seize the opportunity after “losing it and regaining it”, so he decided to lose weight like crazy, but he didn’t use the right method. “I was very persistent at the time and could never find the answer I wanted. What followed was the disbandment of the team (Fighting Chicken).”
Before the Fighting Chicken Warriors fell apart in 2024, they were the old rivals of the ever-victorious domestic team Negeri Sembilan Jin Qunli. Jiageng and his partner and friend Li Jinhong were “unemployed” for a time. Soon after, Jin Qunli “adopted” the two young people to continue their basketball careers.
Using the wrong way to lose weight
Jiageng walked away from the gate of hell once
Jiageng also shared his experience of “almost dying”.
As a domestically powerful club, the Jin Qunli Basketball Team is very strict with player discipline. Jiageng, who has just arrived, is not acclimatized. “If I don’t lose weight, my salary will be deducted, and the coach will not let me go!”
“I tried not eating before training, which resulted in stomach pain and acidity. The most serious thing was once I was driving and waiting at a red light, and suddenly my whole body cramped. I saw a gas station not far away and wanted to buy bread to satisfy my hunger. As a result, I fell to the ground at the gas station after getting off the car. Many people rescued me.”
Get timely rescue
“I remember an ‘Abang’ massaged my thighs to relax them. It took several hours until I was carried into an ambulance and sent to the hospital. I was discharged from the hospital two days later and received a total of 6 bags of water (intravenous infusion).”
After that “near-death experience”, Jiageng almost suffered from cramps all over his body after training many times, so he also began to understand his body’s reaction.
Weight has always been a “thorn in the coach’s side”
There are many interesting things about Jiageng, and one time he was “unannounced” by head coach Felton Seeley!
Since joining the Jin Qunli basketball team two years ago, his weight has been “monitored” by the coach. “Last year in the hotel room in Xiamen, the coach suddenly said to me ‘sick of you’ before the team meeting started!”
“I don’t know where he found the weighing machine. When I saw it, I stood up in a cold sweat, my feet were shaking, and the weight needle was swinging left and right. Fortunately, everything was fine in the end. I breathed a sigh of relief. I lost a few kilograms because I had diarrhea in those days, haha!”
Change your lifestyle and become “lighter”
Jiageng plays longer and lasts longer
Jiageng is tall and tall, but being overweight has limited his performance. His peak weight has reached 131 kilograms. “The game is 10 minutes in each quarter. I can only play 2 or 3 minutes before I have to make substitutions.”
After changing his lifestyle, he successfully lost 15 to 20 kilograms and his body fat also dropped accordingly.
At the Southeast Asian Games hosted in Thailand in December last year, its playing time increased to about 6 minutes (per session). “Now I feel a lot lighter, I can jump higher and last longer.”
I don’t want to give up halfway again
“This time, I don’t want to give up halfway again. I am determined to change my living habits.”
For breakfast before training, he bought groceries and cooked, and slowly saw changes in his body.
What to have for breakfast? He proudly shared his menu, “Fried burrito, two eggs, green vegetables, cucumber, cheese, roast chicken, and Americano coffee. This is your daily breakfast. Eat healthier and be more flexible when playing, a win-win situation, haha!”
“I used to love ice cream and devour it voraciously, but when I saw the weight loss getting more and more, I said to myself, it doesn’t seem so difficult.”
He also realized that he loved basketball more. “My efforts started to pay off, so I wanted to try something more crazy to see if the rewards would be greater.”
The boring and hard training was once “stressed” to the point of crying
One minute on stage, ten years off stage, athlete training is boring, Jiageng is in ThailandSEA GamesIn the first four months, I was unbearable and the pressure was so great that I cried. “I tell myself every time, ‘Hold on,’ and before I know it, it’s year after year.”
Gold always shines, and he finally realized his talent on the SEA Games stage, especially in the game against Singapore with 14 points and 5 rebounds, helping the Malaysian men’s basketball team advance to the semi-finals; despite the team’s poor performance, Jiageng’s performance was impressive.
He revealed that during the SEA Games, “Meimei” Chen Junhong gave him confidence, and Jiageng also hopes to follow Meimei’s footsteps to study abroad and become another foreign aid “Made in Malaysia”.
Lively celebration of the Lunar New Year
Because his parents are divorced, Jiageng’s family mainly celebrates the Lunar New Year. “The atmosphere is relatively lively and there are many programs. For example, they continue to set off firecrackers at the beginning of the new year.”
The peanut butter cake “Kuih Kapit” is Jiageng’s favorite New Year cake. “I restarted training after the Chinese New Year last year. Due to eating, drinking and having fun during the New Year, I regained my weight. Now my appetite has become smaller, and sometimes I want to eat but I can’t.”
Every Deepavali, he and his family would go back to his grandma’s house in Seremban to have dinner and spend time with the elderly. I believe that grandma would comfort her and be proud of her grandson when he saw his lost grandson become a talented person.
