Ball boys and girls from Hangzhou Dianzi University train daily at a tennis center. [Photo/hangzhou.com.cn]

As the Asian Games approach, you can often see groups of students at the tennis courts and open spaces of Hangzhou Dianzi University: they wear tennis caps and are divided into groups of six. Four of the group members stand at the four corners of a rectangle, while the other two are in the middle, running around to pick up stray tennis balls, ensuring that the four corners always have enough balls.

These are the "ball boys and girls" of Hangzhou Dianzi University, who are in training to serve as volunteers for the Asian Games tennis competition.

The university has about 180 student volunteers who will serve as ball boys and girls at the tennis center of the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center during the Asian Games from Sept 23 to Oct 8.

Among all Asian Games volunteers, no role is stricter or more physically-demanding than serving as a tennis ball boy or girl.

During the competition, six ball boys and girls will be on the court. They need to pick up the balls that the athletes fail to hit and hand them to the athletes at the right time. They must not disturb the athletes while picking up the balls, and the supply of balls must not affect the pace of the game.

"Little Lotus is the venue for the Asian Games tennis competitions. We make use of the practical training opportunities provided by the venue as much as possible. Although the venue is 14 kilometers away from our school, we still go for training whenever possible," said Ma Kanglong, a ball boy. "We aim to familiarize ourselves with the competition venue and actual situation as fast as possible so that we are confident when the time comes."

Volunteers train daily. [Photo/hangzhou.com.cn]