Australian table tennis team's youngest member going for gold

Heming Hu is the youngest member of the Australian Commonwealth Games table tennis team, which is aiming for a first ever gold medal in the sport in Glasgow.

Born in Melbourne to Chinese parents, Heming Hu didn’t qualify automatically as one of the top three finishers at the recent trials.

Instead he was hand-picked by the coaches, with an eye on the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast.

"I had to wait another week and a half to see if I was going to go or not. So it was a nerve-wracking week,” he said.

“I had sleepless nights before I got picked, and a few sleepless nights afterwards as well!”

National team coach Jens Lang says Hu will be one of the mainstays of the team for many years.

“He's a really hard working guy, he's dedicated, he's in the sport for the right reasons, and he's shown tremendous improvement over the last 12 to 24 months,” said Lang.

Despite his Chinese heritage, table tennis wasn't a sport introduced to him by his parents.

“It was more of a garage sport,” said Hu.

“My brother played and we just had muck-around games at homes, when I was about eight."

Realising his untapped potential, Heming's family funded a trip to China for almost two years, where he trained with a provincial team, for five or six hours a day.

Now the biggest moment of his career beckons in Glasgow.

“It's my first time, so I don't know what to expect,” he said.

“I just want to see what it's like, see what the pressure's like, seeing everyone fighting for medals and I hope I can help my team-mates win a medal.”