Four years ago, Chinese tennis players suffered a
heavy trauma at the Busan Asian Games, hoping to chalking up at least one gold
but coming back even without a single semifinalist.
A bitter ending as it was, the Busan Games dramatically became a crucial
turning point, since which the tennis governing body had taken a lot of
initiatives to give a leg up to the sport in China, with boosting the female
players in the core and the doubles event as its priority.
China's Li Na returns a shot to
Russia's Svetlana Kuznetsova during their quarter-final match at China
Open in Beijing September 22, 2006.[File Photo/Reuters]
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As a result, the professionalized tennis with Chinese characteristics has
finally took its root and sprouted in Chinese soil during the following three
years' time. And China has gradually set up its image as a tennis upstart in
Asia and even in the world after a string of breakthroughs in women's events of
international level including the Grand Slams titles.
So the
upcoming 15th Doha Asian Games tennis tournament, where Chinese have harvested
at least one gold in each edition since 1986 with the Busan Games as the sole
vacuum, will be a best forum for Chinese tennis players to establish hegemony in
Asia.
Chinese women's number one Li Na, ranked 22nd in the world now, has toppled
Japanese veteran Ai Sugiyama to be the Asian number one. She has notched up many
impressive wins over the world top 10 players en route to the best 20th ranking
in August this season.
The top favorite in women's singels will be strengthened by fellow Chinese
Zheng Jie, a specialist in doubles event but also among the best singles players
in Asia. Ranked 34th in the world, the 23-year-old will join Li to keep alive
the hopes of claiming the gold in singles when 26th-ranked Ai Sugiyama decared
her pulling out from Doha in this year's China Open.
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