In the gym and on the beach, China's women still in the hunt for volleyball gold
Thursday, 21st August 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
UPDATE: The USA's Walsh and May-Treanor defeated Tian and Wang, leaving China with silver and bronze in women's beach volleyball.
A win against Russia Tuesday night put China into the semifinals of the women's volleyball competition. Defending Olympic champion China won the quarterfinal in three sets, 25-22, 27-25, 25-19.
China's semifinal pits it against Brazil, undefeated in these Olympics.
Brazil's men's team knocked China out in the quarterfinals. The women's match is scheduled for 8:00 tonight Beijing time. Cuba and the USA play in the other semifinal and the gold medal match takes place Saturday.
In beach volleyball, an all-China semifinal ended in victory for top seeds
Tian Jia (田佳) and Wang Jie over Xue Chen and Zhang Xi. Xue and Zhang went on to win the bronze, defeating a Brazilian duo, 21-17, 21-19. As this post goes live, Tian and Wang are taking on America's Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor, in what should be a very competitive gold medal contest.
Related:
China's women aiming for beach volleyball gold
Tough road for China's beloved women's volleyball
Image: Jieyang.gd.cn
Tags: Beijing Olympics, Olympics, Tian Jia, volleyball, Wang Jie, women's volleyball, Xue Chen, Zhang Xi
Day Three: China takes more gold, leading in medal count
Monday, 11th August 2008 ~ Chris ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
On the third day of the Beijing Olympics, China has proven itself to be a serious contender to win the most medals at this year's games. As of 7:30 pm Beijing time on Monday, China had taken eight of a total of 32 gold medals issued, accounting for a quarter of the Olympic gold given out so far.In terms of total medals won, China's 13 total medals were one more than the United States' 12. South Korea was in third place with seven total medals and four gold medals. South Korea's four golds were second only to China's eight and one ahead of the three won by the US.
Yue/Liang take gold 10m synchronized platform
Monday at the Watercube, Divers Lin Yue (林跃) and Huo Liang (火亮) won China's second gold medal in diving so far, winning the men's 10 meter synchronized platform. The pair has been dominating international competitions heading into the Beijing games and appear to be having no trouble assuming the role of heirs to Chinese diving legends and Athens gold medalists Tian Liang and Yang Jinghui.
Lin and Huo's combined score of 468.18 beat out Sascha Klein and Patrick Hausding of Germany (450.42) and Gleb Galperin and Dmitry Dobroskok of Russia (445.26).
Chen gives China third weightlifting gold medal
Chen Yanqing (陈艳青) won weightlifting gold for the second Olympics in a row, taking the top spot in the women's 58 kilogram class and giving China its third weightlifting gold in three days.
Chen is the first woman to win Olympic weightlifting gold twice.
The 29-year-old Chen, who had been coaxed out of retirement for the Beijing games, snatched 106 kilograms and lifted 138 for the clean and jerk, for a winning total of 244 kilograms. Chen beat out Marina Shainova of Russia and O Jong Ae from North Korea, who took silver and bronze, respectively.
Tian and Wang win again in beach volleyball
China inched closer to its first beach volleyball gold on Monday as Tian Jia (田佳) and Wang Jie (王洁) defeated Liesbeth Mouha and Liesbet Van Breedam of Belgium in a hard-fought 2:1 victory (18-21, 21-19, 15-13).
With wins against fellow Group A members Switzerland and Belgium, Tian and Wang look likely to advance to a berth in the tournament's top 16. The pair will play the undefeated duo of Susanne Glesnes and Kathrine Maaseide of Norway at 11 am Beijing time on Wednesday.
Lin Yue/Huo Liang image: sports.mop.com
Chen Yanqing image: Xinhua
Tags: Chen Yanqing, Diving, Huo Liang, Lin Yue, Olympics, Tian Jia, Wang Jie
China's women aiming for gold in beach volleyball
Monday, 11th August 2008 ~ Chris ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
Since first appearing as an exhibition sport in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and making its debut as a medal event in Atlanta four years later, the fast-paced sport of beach volleyball has quickly become one of the most popular Olympic events.
An easy-to-understand combination of power, speed and spandex, the sport pulled 3.5 billion viewing hours during the 2004 games in Athens and has already proven quite popular with Chinese audiences during this year's Beijing games, with spectators consistently packing the stands at the beach volleyball ground in Chaoyang Park.
As an Olympic sport, beach volleyball has been dominated by the triumvirate of Brazil, the US and Australia – no other countries have won gold medals in either men's or women's beach volleyball to date. Each country has won gold once in the women's event.
This year there may be a new world order in Olympic beach volleyball, as China has a good shot at joining the women's beach volleyball gold club. Fielding its best talent ever and enjoying a home-field advantage, China has two talented teams in the women's competition that are both considered serious medal contenders.
Tian Jia (田佳) and Wang Jie (王洁) – who beat Lea Schwer and Simone Kuhn of Switzerland 2:0 on Saturday – are top seeds in Pool A after placing second in the qualification round for the event. They are expected to advance beyond their group, which also includes Belgium and Norway.
China's other women's team, consisting of Zhang Xi (张希) and Xue Chen (薛晨), has also started off on the right foot in the Olympic tournament, beating Greece's Efthalia Koutroumanidou and Maria Tsiartsiani 2:1 in Chaoyang Park on Sunday. Zhang and Xue – who was named top rookie in 2006 by the International Federation of Volleyball - are playing in Pool D, which is rounded out by Germany and South Africa.
Experience will be a big factor for both pairs – each of whom have been playing together since 2006. Tian Jia has played in previous Olympics and has also been playing internationally since 1998 and she has extensive international experience playing together with Wang.
Zhang and Xue, both making their Olympic debut on Sunday, dropped one set to their Greek opponents, but according to Xue, who at 19 is the youngest beach volleyball player competing in Beijing, any Olympic jitters are behind them.
"We were a little bit strained in the game and the rivals are very strong, so we lost a set," Xue told Xinhua after the match, "But we'll be very confident in playing in the next matches," she said.
Xue Chen image: 2008.sina.com
Tian Jia/Wang Jie image: hi.baidu.com
Tags: beach volleyball, Olympics, Tian Jia, Wang Jie, Xue Chen, Zhang Xi