“I play basketball every Sunday morning in Chua Chu Kang CC.” — Ong Yisheng

Ong Yisheng, 23, is a Diagnostic Radiography student at Nanyang Polytechnic. He scored a game-high 13 points, including three 3-pointers, for Zhenghua CSC in their 58-22 win over Bukit Timah CSC.

We caught up with Yisheng to ask him about his sport and the community he plays in.

Red Sports: When did you start playing basketball?
Yisheng: I started basketball when I was in Primary 4. I was playing as center when I first joined the school team as I was tall and big. As time went by, I grew less than a lot of my peers and I shifted from center to forward and then slowly to guard.

Red Sports: Did you play basketball for your school?
Yisheng: I was a school team player in Bukit Panjang Primary School, Chua Chu Kang Secondary School and Innova Junior College. I am currently playing for Nanyang Polytechnic. Due to my hectic timetable this year, i might not join the competitions this year.

Red Sports: How did you get interested in the game of basketball?
Yisheng: I got to come in contact with basketball because of my elder brother in primary school. There were NBA final games showed on Channel 5 last time and he was a fan of the Chicago Bulls team where Michael Jordan played. We watched the games together and was pretty impressed by all the players, especially Michael Jordan when he maneuvered in the air with the ball.

I tried to imitate his move from the games and realised the difficulty and challenges this game brings. I was amazed and deeply attracted by the game. From then on, I have grown my interest in basketball and loved this sport ever since.

Red Sports: How often do you play basketball now?
Yisheng: I usually play basketball every Sunday morning in Chua Chu Kang Community Centre. Other than that, sometimes I play basketball with Chenghua team and my other friends in Bukit Panjang Community Centre or the Block 478 court on weekdays. I usually play about once or twice in a week.

Red Sports: How did you get involved with Zhenghua CSC?
Yisheng: As there are not a lot of basketball courts in Bukit Panjang, I get to meet and know all the players on the court around Bukit Panjang while playing basketball there. As we use to play together a lot, our friendship gets closer and the bond between each and everyone grew stronger, so we were like sort of a team even before we really joined Zhenghua CSC.

As some of the players are already in the CSC team and we have a common interest, so those players that were not in the team were invited to join the training.