KUALA LUMPUR – Having a father with legendary status in Malaysia’s cycling fraternity can be a heavy burden, but Tsen Ren Bao is grateful for the support and encouragement from his SEA Games gold medal-winning parent, Tsen Seong Hoong.
The 21-year-old recently won the best young rider classification at the Tour of Thailand, one of the goals Seong Hoong set for his son before the UCI 2.1 race.
He admits that being compared to his father’s previous accomplishments can be daunting, but it motivates him to strive for better results.
“My father holds high expectations for me. He wanted me to achieve a top-10 finish and win the best young rider classification in the tour.
“I had doubts because this was my first UCI Tour, and there were many good teams and riders.
“But his pressure pushed me to aim higher, and as the race progressed, I began to believe that it was achievable.
“His support also makes it easier, he wants me to do my best and see results. It is a bit stressful, but sometimes the pressure can be good,” said Ren Bao from Brisbane when contacted by Scoop.
At age 11, the Kuala Lumpur-born cyclist began accompanying his father on weekend leisure rides with a local cycling club.
But when Ren Bao turned 12, he expressed a strong desire to pursue racing professionally, prompting Seong Hoong to introduce his son to another cycling legend, Datuk Ng Joo Ngan.
“When I was about 12 years old, I started wanting to race and take it to the next level.
“I started training with Joo Ngan but in 2018, when I was 15, we moved to Australia, where I continued practising and racing with the local clubs here.
“I want to keep training, racing and learning as much as I can. I want to be the best that I can to make my dad proud,” said the second-year aviation management student at Griffith University.
Balancing studies and cycling poses challenges, but Ren Bao is thankful for the flexibility that his university offers.
“The university in Australia is different from Malaysia, classes are not compulsory as everything is recorded.
“It is much more flexible but it still gets in the way of my cycling. But I’m aware of how important getting a degree is… what happens if cycling doesn’t work out for me? At least I’ll have a degree to fall back on,” he added.
Ren Bao is highly regarded by national team coach Mohd Yusof Abdul Nasir, especially following his performance in the Tour of Thailand.
While Yusof praised his performance, he did note that Ren Bao lacks experience.
“I agree with coach Yusof, I don’t think I’m there yet in terms of ability and I need to keep improving.
“In terms of experience, I am open to participating in more races. I think we’ll head to Indonesia next for a race.
“Hopefully I get to start at Le Tour de Langkawi; that is my childhood dream of representing Malaysia in my home country,” said Ren Bao. – April 17, 2024