A deaf 11-year-old elementary school student captured third place at the Eddie Herr International Junior Tennis Championships held last week in Bradenton, Florida, the tournament's Web site said.
Born with a hearing disability, Lee Duck-hee, a fifth grader at Shinbak Elementary School in Jecheon, North Chungcheong Province, is unable to hear the sound of the ball on the racket and needs umpires' calls to be visual, not aural.
When reporting his score to tournament officials, Lee has to write it down on a piece of paper, and they respond by writing his next match time on the same sheet.
These obstacles couldn't stop Lee from beating top-seeded players and his "remarkable" performances drew media attention. "Lee continued to be a story" in the tournament, reported zootennis.com, a U.S.-based online news provider specializing in junior tennis.
He beat two top seeds ― Tommy Paul, the No. 1 seed from the United States, and Russian Mark Chepurnoy, whom he beat 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-1 in a three-hour contest to reach the semifinals.
He lost to Hong Seong-chan, 12, also of Korea, in the semifinal held last Thursday. Zootennis.com reported, "Lee may have been exhausted from his three-hour quarterfinal battle on Wednesday, and the pop on his shots was missing in action Thursday."
Still, it is the first time that an 11-year-old has reached the semifinals at the tournament that has produced top global tennis players like Steffi Graf and Andy Roddick.
Lee started playing tennis at seven and has emerged as a top player among elementary students in Korea, claiming as many as 10 titles at various domestic competitions in the last year, officials from his school said.
He dreams of becoming a great player like Roger Federer, according to his school. He will take part in two other junior tennis tournaments before returning home on Dec. 25.