While children his age would be thrilled donning their school sports colours or competing in inter-school tournaments, there is a young Malaysian who not only wears the national colours but is already ranked among the best in the world in his age group.
Meet Habib Adrian Muhammad Suhaidin Azhar, Malaysia's rising table tennis star.
The 11-year-old from Puchong, Selangor, is no stranger to the international scene, although he has yet to become a household name. This may be because table tennis does not enjoy the same level of attention as football, badminton or even squash in Malaysia.
On Feb 2, the Kuala Lumpur Table Tennis Association announced on Facebook that Habib had emerged victorious in the boys' Under-11 category at the World Table Tennis Youth Contender held in Cappadocia, Turkiye.
According to the latest International Table Tennis Federation Boys' Under-11 rankings released on the same day, Habib is ranked second in the world with 117 points, trailing world No. 1 Taavi Samaraweera, who has 199 points.
Habib is not the only one in his family making waves in the sport. His younger brother, Raden Zharif, who is a year younger, has also won several tournaments.
While many Malaysians are celebrating Habib's latest success and international standing, a familiar question remains: can such excellence be sustained all the way to the senior level?
Malaysia has seen several young prodigies in the past, only for them to fade when they reached elite competition. Some attribute this to the pressure of expectation, while others point to the absence of a proper system to manage and protect young talents. There have also been instances of parents clashing with sports officials, resulting in a decline in performance.
Adding perspective to this debate is a study released late last year which found that most individuals, including athletes, who reach the pinnacle of their fields were not exceptional during childhood.
The report analysed data from 19 studies involving nearly 35,000 elite adults, along with 66 additional studies on talented youth and sub-elite performers. It found that only about 10 per cent of world-class adults were top performers when they were young. Similarly, only around 10 per cent of high-achieving children went on to reach the highest level as adults.
Arne Gullich, the study's lead researcher and a professor at RPTU Kaiserslautern in Germany, was quoted by New Scientist as saying: "If we understand that most world-class performers were not that remarkable or exceptional in their early years, this implies that early exceptional performance is not a prerequisite for long-term, world-class performance."
This is not to diminish the achievements of young athletes like Habib. In fact, they already serve as sports ambassadors, inspiring their peers to take up sport.
This is where policymakers must step in with clearer thinking on how young talents should be managed. Some argue that prodigies should not be placed in centralised camps, fearing they may become detached from family life and miss out on childhood. Others believe talent should be harnessed early through frequent competition to maintain momentum.
Without guidance informed by data and research, however, such views remain speculative. Every athlete, young or senior, must be managed based on individual capacity, not assumptions drawn from the experiences of others.
Parents, too, need clearer guidance on how to support children with sporting potential. Some may rush excellence, driven by unfulfilled ambitions of their own, while others may be unsure how much training or competition is too much.
With the rapid growth of sports academies nationwide, reflecting increased parental interest in structured training programmes, clearer guidelines could help set expectations for parents and young athletes alike.
It is hoped that adik Habib will continue to make his family and Malaysia proud. While competitiveness matters, he should also be encouraged to enjoy the sport. After all, he is only 11 and has a long road ahead.
Whether Habib becomes a star at the elite level remains to be seen. For now, Malaysians can appreciate having an 11-year-old table tennis talent ranked among the best in the world.
At a time when Malaysian sport is often marked by mediocre results, poor management and self-interest, Habib could yet emerge as a unifying figure, inspiring more Malaysians to pick up a sport.
Main image: Kuala Lumpur Table Tennis Association