Li Na bounced in round two, Peng Shuai to face Sharapova in round four
Monday, 27th June 2011 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
As Wimbledon enters its second week, there is a Chinese player still in the running, but not the one that most fans would have expected to see still alive. Peng Shuai faces Maria Sharapova at 12:00 noon local time Monday, after Li Na followed her French Open win with a disappointing second-round exit from Wimbledon. She lost (3-6, 6-4, 8-6) to wildcard Sabine Lisicki, a 21-year-old German who is making a comeback after a long absence due to an ankle injury. Lisicki, whose highest world ranking so far is 22, rode her powerful serve (average speed of first serve, 112 mph) to victory over world number four Li.Although Li's loss is the biggest upset of the tournament so far, and certainly a big disappointment to her, it's something that her fans will need to learn to take in stride. People here seem to have incredibly high expectations for any Chinese athlete that has shown she can compete with the best in the world. Whatever the reason — national pride, thirst for heroes, a disparity between China's political position and its sporting success, or a simple lack of understanding of just how competitive a sport like professional tennis is — fans here seem to expect success to be followed by success and more success.
Fans need to be more patient, Li said after the match, according to this AFP report, which in its headline attributes to her the line "Don't burden me with all your hopes," although the quote or one like it never appears in the story.
Still, Li will of course be looking to approve on this performance in August at the U.S. Open. She might want to consider using some of her French Open prize money to hire a sports psychologist, because she seems to be inconsistent in pressure situations. She blew two match points, committing two unforced errors in the final set against Lisicki. Meanwhile, her opponent rose to the occasion in the final set, slugging out four serves in a row between 122 and 126 mph. Earlier this year at the Australian Open, Li got off to a 6-3 start, but completely lost her edge in the last two sets to lose to Clijsters 3-6, 6-3, 6-3.
For now, China has one more hope alive in this tournament. This year, 25-year-old Peng Shuai reached the fourth round at the Australian Open, and retired from the French Open in the second round due to illness. She has beaten Li Na and Svetlana Kuznetsova this season, and lost to Sharapova in three sets at Indian Wells in March.
Tags: Li Na, Peng Shuai
Chinese National Games: How did your team do?
Wednesday, 28th October 2009 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
The national games ended last night, concluding with Guangdong beating the PLA team for the men's basketball title (105-93). The top 10 teams in the games were:1. Shandong – 63 gold, 150 overall
2. People's Liberation Army – 49 gold, 126 overall
*3. Jiangsu Province – 48.5 gold, 121.5 overall
4. Liaoning Province – 46 gold, 126 overall
5. Guangdong Province – 43 gold, 127 overall
6. Shanghai – 40 gold, 119.5 overall
7. Beijing – 30 gold, 79 overall
8. Heilongjiang Province – 23.5 gold, 65 overall
9. Tianjin – 23 gold, 52.5 overall
10. Fujian Province – 19 gold, 51 overall
Despite her four golds in tennis, the games' leading medal winner, Peng Shuai, couldn't lift her home province of Sichuan into the top 10. They came in 13th, with 13.5 golds and 60 overall medals.
* The games' official site (here, in Chinese) gives the same medal counts as above for the PLA and Jiangsu, but lists them as tied for second place, with Liaoning in 3rd. Sometimes the Chinese are just nice like that.
Tags: Chinese national games, Peng Shuai
Li Na beats Venus to reach singles tennis semis
Friday, 15th August 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
Another world-class tennis tournament, another semifinal appearance for a Chinese player. Li Na (李娜) pulled off a huge upset and kept China's tennis singles medal hopes alive when she beat Venus Williams (USA)—7-5, 7-5—Thursday night in Beijing. Li, ranked 42nd in the world, dropped the Wimbledon champion and 8th ranked player in two sets.
Olympic quarterfinalist Li Na
Li came back from a 4-1 deficit to force and win a tie break in the first set. She carried that momentum into the next set, going up 3-1. Venus fought back to take three sets in a row and a 4-3 lead, but couldn't hold on to her lead. The win puts Li into the semifinals, where she will face the winner of a match between Jelena Jankovic (Serbia) and Dinara Safina (Russia).
With her win at the 2006 Australian Open, Li became the first woman from China to win a WTA singles event. Since then, she has three third-place finishes in Grand Slam events.
Li is the last woman standing among China's four entries in the tournament. Zheng Jie (郑洁), hot off a run to the Wimbledon semifinals, lost in the third round of the singles tournament to Russia's Safina (6-4, 6-3), the sixth ranked player in the world.
Alize Cornet of France dispatched Peng Shuai (彭帅) in the second round, and Yan Zi (晏紫) was the first of the Chinese women to be knocked out, losing in the first round to Vera Zvonareva (Russia).
Zheng gets a chance to avenge her loss when she and Yan, face Safina and Svetlana Kuznetsova in the doubles quarterfinal on Friday, August 15. The Chinese pair got there by beating a Swiss duo, 6-3; 7-6(2).
On the men's side, China has been much less competitive. Xu Xinyuan, Sun Peng and Zeng Shaoxuan all lost in short matches—55 minutes for Xu, 1 hour 6 minutes for Zeng and 1 hour and 7 minutes for Sun. Zeng and Xu also played doubles, losing in the first round.
Related: China's upset-minded tennis team gets its draws
Li Na image: 163.com
Tags: Beijing Olympics, Li Na, Olympics, Peng Shuai, tennis, Venus Williams, Yan Zi, Zheng Jie
China's upset-minded tennis team gets its draws
Thursday, 7th August 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
One of the last sports to determine its Olympic matchups, tennis finally held its draw Thursday night at the Swissotel in Beijing. China's best shot at a tennis medal is on the women's side where, despite lacking a player among the top 25 in the world, it has the maximum four players, all with the potential to pull off upsets.Zheng Jie (郑洁), the hottest name in Chinese tennis and the team's highest ranked player (38), will face Agnes Szavay (14, Hungary) in her first match. The two also played in the fourth round of Wimbledon earlier this year, with Zheng winning 6-3, 6-4.
Li Na 李娜 (43) plays Svetlana Kuznetsova (3, Russia); Peng Shuai 彭帅 (50) will face Spaniard Carla Suarez Navarro (55); and Zheng's doubles partner Yan Zi 晏紫 (52) is matched up with Vera Zvonareva (11, Russia).
For highlights and interviews with these women, check out CST's tennis playlist on Youtube (below).
Zheng and Yan are a force in doubles, having won Wimbledon and The Australian Open in 2006. The pair open up against Daniela Hantuchova and Janette Husarova of Slovakia.
On the men's side, China's Sun Peng faces Fernando Gonzales of Chile. Yu Xinyuan, who got a spot in the tournament after Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany withdrew due to injury, will play Argentina's David Nalbandia.
Tennis play begins Sunday, August 10.
Related: China's Zheng making tennis history
Zheng's Wimbledon run continues
Zheng in Wimbledon quarterfinals (after Szavay match)
Zheng loses in Wimbledon semis
Tags: Beijing Olympics, Li Nan, Peng Shuai, Sun Peng, tennis, Xu Xinyuan, Yan Zi, Zheng Jie