The Michigan Daily - Thursday, September 22, 2005 - 11A Hun no . stranger to toughneSS dy Bryan Hamilton For the Daily It's match point. The opponent is serving, and you're trying to break him. The crowd is deafening and you pant in exhaustion. The match time has breached two hours. What separates you from your opponent? According to Brian Hung, a junior on the Mich- igan men's tennis team, it's mental toughness. "When it comes down to it, everyone's game is just about the same," Hung said. "What really separates the best players from the average is their mental toughness on the court." Realizing the importance of such a mental edge, Hung chose to spend his summer partici- pating in professional and collegiate tourna- ments around the world. Most notably, the Hong Kong native had the privilege of representing his country in the World University Games held in Turkey this past August. In their 46th year of existence, the games give collegiate athletes throughout the world the opportunity to play against select players in nearly every collegiate sport. Though it may seem like a big deal to play on such a stage representing one's country, it is a familiar role for Hung. "I've been representing Hong Kong in juniors tournaments since I was 12 years old," Hung said. "It's a situation I'm pretty used to and com- fortable being in." Such experience and comfort level proved valuable in the games. Chosen to play in singles, doubles and mixed doubles matches, Hung and doubles partner Jack Hui were able to defeat a duo from Thailand. In mixed doubles, Hung and partner Kuen Lam experienced more success, beating a pair from Thailand and Italy, before being outmatched by the top-seeded tandem of Chinese Taipei in the semi-finals. Success at such a young age may seem sur- prising, but for Hung, early success has been a pattern in his life. He picked up the game at the age of 3 1/2 while watching his older brother and father playing at a hometown tennis club. The club had an age minimum of six to be allowed to play at the facility but chose to make an excep- tion for Hung when it saw his ability to swing the racket and grasp-the game. A skill that would certainly prove useful at the collegiate level. When deciding where to attend college, Hung looked for a university that would make a simi- lar exception. "I wanted to be able to play right away," Hung said. "Many of the schools I was looking at were going to have me on the bench or playing as a . MEN'S GOLF Duff beats injury to shine in opener Eileen Hengel For the Daily Senior Brandon Duff always expected himself to start the season strong. Unfortunately, he also expect- ed to end the last season strong. After the first individual tournament of the 2004-05 season, Duff noticed his shoulder was tight. When he lifted his book bag or swung his nine iron, the pain would not go away. Benched for observation after the first tourna- ment, doctors diagnosed Duff late in the fall season. "Eventually I got it checked out, and I had strained my labrum and rotator cuff," Duff said. Coming off the opening tournament of this year - the Iowa Individual - Duff led the Wolverines with a sev- enth-place individual finish while the team finished third overall. "I knew that I wanted to start the season really strong, and I always expected myself to play confidently in the first tournament," Duff said. "I had not anticipated starting and ending last season at the same tournament." Nevertheless, Duff did not let the injury deter him from his training. Throughout the year, Duff visited a physical therapist regularly and kept himself active by practicing putting and other less-rigorous elements of his game. "Over the summer, I did a lot of physical therapy and played in some tournaments around the state to get ready for the season," Duff said. Going into the first tournament, Duff had not played in Big Ten compe- tition since the 2003-04 season, but he remained confident. "Coming into the (Iowa Individual), I wasn't nervous," Duff said. "When I am on the course, I am concentrat- ing on playing golf. I am usually more excited on the course. And especially for the first tournament, I was excited to get back into Big Ten play." As one of the team's four seniors, Duff realizes this season is his last opportunity to win the Big Ten title. "We hope that he just gets bet- ter," fourth-year coach Andrew Sapp said. "All he has to do is work on his golf game and get off to a fast start. With confidence, he will continue to improve." . Duff's injury deferred what he con- sidered to be a potentially successful 2004-05 season. "Late in the fall, (Duff) was diag- nosed and was just cleared in March to play," Sapp said. "I didn't know what he would be able to do this year, com- ing off the injury. But I knew that Bran- don had the talent, and we've expected this from him since the beginning." Duff's finish, along with senior Christian Vozza's and freshman Bill Rankin's top-10 individual perfor- mances, automatically qualified the trio for the Wolverine Intercollegiate in Ann Arbor on Sept. 24-25. "This season, our team is very deep with a lot of returning players," Duff said. "Our hopes are that we have high finishes in every tournament." EUGENE ROBERTSON/Daily Junior Brian Hung has played extensively while representing Hong Kong in International tournaments. Over the summer, Hung participated in singles, doubles and mixed doubles matches at the World University Games In Turkey. low-seeded player my first year. By coming to Michigan, I was able to play No. 3 singles and No. 1 doubles as a freshman." It looks like playing Hung right away was a beneficial move for the Wolverines. In each of his first two seasons, Hung led the Wolverines in overall singles victories, and he helped the team finish third in the Big Ten last year. But in order for Hung to take his game to the next level, he needs an approach that goes beyond the everyday regimen of practice. "For me, it's about the mental part of the game," Hung said. "I used to get down on myself when I wasn't doing well out on the court. This year, I really need to believe in myself more." Whether mental toughness is achieved through simply adopting a winning attitude or by chal- lenging oneself against top-notch players, Hung believes he's mentally ready to take that next step. "I really think that playing against some of the top players from other countries will only help me get better against collegiate players this year," Hung said. "It really helped my confidence." If Hung is right, and mental toughness real- ly is what separates good from great, then his experiences this summer will propel him toward a great season. SPIKERS Continued from page 10A talks to her teammates one-on-one and gives them the individual atten- tion that they so frequently need. Coming into a program with such high standards and aspirations, the captains take educating the younger players very seriously. They take time out to teach their teammates about what it means to be a Michigan student athlete. As captains, their job doesn't end when they leave the gym. They understand that, as lead- ers, they have to wear many hats. "Sometimes it's encouragement, sometimes it's pushing and some- times it's challenging them a little bit," Rosen said of Cobler, Bruzdz- inski and Miller. "I think they fulfill all of those roles at different times. They are playing well, they are f1ad- ing by example, and making sure to educate the younger players on what the expectations are and what col- lege life is like." Despite the fact that it's still early in the season, the Wolverines have already been through quite a bit. They got off to a rocky start before coming back to win both the Michi- gan Pepsi/Nike Invitational and the Georgia Invitational. Even though the team is happy with its recent success, the captains have a slightly different perspective on the team's progression. "I feel like it is my responsibility as well as the other captains' to lead us in the direction that we need to go and to make sure we are always getting better and always looking forward," Cobler said. University of Michigan Ph.D. students, Postdocs, Fellows, Scientists/Researchers, and Masters students* are invited to attend a presentation about consulting careers given by McKinsey & Company: Friday, September 23, 2005 at 4:00 p.m. Michigan Union - Pendleton Room or Friday, September 30, 2005 at 4:00 p.m. North Campus IQE Building '- Room 1610 www.apd.mckinsey.com