Annual Chinese National Games City Map

 The Chinese National Games started today in Shandong China, attracting some of the biggest names in the sport.  Lin Dan won his opening match 21-10, 21-17 against Hong Kong's Wong Wing Ki. Dan said afterwards, ""I was a little bit nervous in the first set but restored my composure in the second."  Dan who is competing for the People's Liberation Army also stated that, " PLA is not expected to be a strong candidate for men's team champion, we have to fight hard match by match."
 
China's number three ranked Chunlai Bao also won today 21-18, 21-5 versus  Liu Jingru of Shandong.  Bao is competing for Hunang which is now 3-0.  Chunlai said, ""I was under pressure from Shandong fans and my opponent fought very hard in the first set. However, I found my rhythm in the later match and gained the upper hand."  Former World Champion Chen Hong, who is competing for Fuji  an beat Du Pengyu of Beijing 21-18, 17-21, 21-12.  This secured Fujian's 3-1 victory.  In other action  Guangdong rallied from behind to beat Hubei 3-2 and Liaoning upset Shanghai 3-2.
 
 On the womens' side Guangdong blanked Fujian 3-0.  Xie Xingfang, who announced her retirement recently, won her match against Yini Wang 21-11, 21-7.  Xie then said to reporters, ""I'm now back in good form."  In a very exciting rivalry Mi Zhou took on Lin Wang, who are both ranked number one and two respectively.  The victory however went to Wang again with a 22-20, 20-15 outcome.   "I'm not physically well recently but I played well today. Though I lost to Lin Wang, I enjoyed the whole match," said Zhou.  Other women's team scores were:  Hunan beat Liaoning 3-0, Shanghai beat Shandong 3-0, Hubei beat PLA 3-1 and Jiangsu skunked Sichuan 3-0.
 
 
The team competition will run from October 8-13, before the singles competition takes over from October 14-18.   
 

Permalink