China's Women Tennis Team to Strive for Best Results in Universiade"If a tennis player or coach is not eager to win a title when she competes in the games, she is not a qualified player or coach," Yu Liqiao, the head coach of China's women tennis team taking part in the tennis games of the 21st University Games, said Monday.During Monday's training at the newly-built Beijing Muxiyuan Tennis Center, Yu told Xinhua that although China is not yet a tennis giant, all her players are determined to make all-out efforts to achieve the best results in the forthcoming Universiade tennis tournament to be held on August 23-30, because they are competing on their homeland. Former female Chinese tennis player, Yi Jingqian, had ever entered the top 100 players in the world and won a title in a Universiade. Li Na, a new shinning star of China's tennis team, arouses the Chinese team's hope for gaining a medal in the upcoming games. Li Na, world No. 188 for women's doubles and the 273rd for the singles, will compete in both events of the Universiade tennis competitions, Yu said, adding that her partner in the doubles is Li Ting, ranked the 199th for the doubles. "Our arch rivals will be Chinese Taipei's Janet Lee, ranked 41 st for the doubles and 88th for the singles, South Korea's Kim Eun- Ha, ranked the 189th, and the players from Russia and Germany, who are also ranked among the top 200 players in the world." Yu noted. "As the registration is still going on, we only have a rough idea of our rivals, especially those from Europe," Yu said, adding that now, she is trying best to enable her players give their full play in the competitions. "Even though we lose a match, we must make our rivals give a full play and sweat heavily," Yu said with a smile. Refusing to make any prediction of the final results, the middle-aged coach said that although a tennis player wins a match mainly by strength and skill, luck and chance sometimes play a role in the competition. Situation in a match could change suddenly just because of getting or losing a few scores, she added. And the results of the draw on August 22 will also be in favor of certain players, she said. Finally, she stressed that a player's morale in the match play a key role in the results, and in a sense, the spirit is more important than the strength and skill. A player's strength and confidence are based on his or her attitude toward the games, she noted. "I have requested my players to fight to the end in the match," she said. According to the latest registration information, 40 and 38 tennis players have registered in the women's singles and doubles of the Universiade tennis games. |
| People's Daily Online --- http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/ |