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Friday, December 24, 1999, updated at 09:26(GMT+8) Sports Yi Becomes First Chinese Recipient for Australian Open Wildcard China's Yi Jingqian on Thursday became the first Chinese recipient of a wildcard for next month's Australian Open tennis tournament. She and Gouichi Motomura from Japan are the two Asian wildcard recipients announced on Thursday for the prestigious tournament from January 17-30. Yi was ranked 140th in the world while Motomura 147th. They join former Asian wildcard recipients Takao Suzuki from Japan, South Korean Sung-Hee Park and Indian's Leander Paes and Nirupama Vaidynathan. The Asian wildcard was introduced in 1997, offering a maindraw berth for one man and one woman outside the entry cut-off but within the top 200. (Xinhua) Printer-friendly Version In This SectionSearch Back to top Copyright by People's Daily Online, All rights reserved |
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