Chinese Olympic fencing champions upset at National Games

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Chinese Olympic fencing champions upset at National Games

(Xinhua) 11:00, September 03, 2013

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China's Olympic fencing champions Lei Sheng, Li Na and Sun Yujie were all frustrated on the second day of the 12th Chinese National Games on Monday.

Lei Sheng, the men's foil gold owner of 2012 London Olympics, missed the opportunity to grab his first individual gold in National Games by losing to Zhang Liangliang from Anhui 15-14 in the final.

"I had some problems on my strategy at the end of the match, and Zhang was very aggressive that made me lose my attack rhythm," said Lei.

In the roller-coaster battle, Lei raced to a 8-3 lead but the defending champion Zhang fought back with a 7-0 spree. Then the game was tied for a long time until Zhang finally converted the match point to secure the gold.

"I am ready for my retirement. It's a great moment for me to beat Lei in my last National Games," said 31-years-old Zhang.

Talking about the future plan, Lei said that he needs to finish his study in Beijing University and he still has the ambition to compete in 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

"The most important thing for me now is to graduate from the university. Rio de Janeiro? Of course I would like to defend my champion in 2016," Lei said.

As members of the Chinese women's epee team, which won the team gold at the London Olympics, Li Na and Sun Yujie were both considered as the favorites to take the women's epee individual gold at the National Games.

However, the two Olympic champions were all stunned in the last 16finals.

Li, the 32-year-old Liaoning fencer, was drawn by Shen Weiwei of Shanghai 4-4 in regular time and suffered a last-minute hit in the overtime, while Sun was shocked by Shanxi fencer Hao Jialu 15-10 in a one-side match.

"Competing in the hometown brought Sun too much pressure. She experienced a high-pressure match because she is the Olympic champion. She was obviously not in her best form," said Hao, who got the bronze by beating Yao Yuting of Guizhou 5-4.

Luo Xiaojuan and Xu Anqi, the other two players from Chinese women's epee team, took the gold and silver for Jiangsu respectively.

Sun, ranked No. 4 in the world, was apparently left depressed by the unexpected loss and rushed back to the locker room without speaking to the waiting press. Just like her teammate, Li also had no mood to talk with reporters after the match.

Shao Kai, the manager of the Liaoning team, told press, "The girls were too upset to speak to the media, they were greatly disappointed with their performance today, I hope you can understand their mood."