BEIJING, Sept. 11 (Xinhua) — With lower than two weeks to go till the Asian Games in Hangzhou, greater than 900 registered Chinese athletes throughout a variety of sports activities are making ultimate preparations as they search to showcase their finest type at house.
The nineteenth Asian Games, which can open on September 23, is about to be the biggest version ever, with 12,500 athletes from 45 nations and areas competing in 40 sports activities, 61 disciplines, and 481 occasions.
POISED FOR GLORY
Chinese athletes have all the time dominated in desk tennis. And for the all-conquering squad who grabbed 5 golds on the 2018 Asian Games, the upcoming Games might be their final complete occasion earlier than the 2024 Olympic Games.
“Our players may compete in different events at the Paris Olympic Games, so the Asian Games will be a good test for them on how to adjust themselves between different categories and maintain fitness,” stated Li Sun, head coach of China’s desk tennis workforce.
“Now I’m going all out to prepare for the Asian Games, hoping to show my best at that time,” stated China’s star paddler Sun Yingsha who will take part within the ladies’s singles.
China’s diving squad, one other perennially dominant workforce on the Olympic stage, has been seizing the final moments to high quality tune their type forward of the Asian Games, after they took house 12 golds from the World Aquatics Championships in July.
“We are all fighting for one goal, and that is to achieve good results on home soil,” stated 18-year-old Chen Yuxi.
Swimming Olympic champion Zhang Yufei, who shocked the world by successful all 9 occasions she competed in on the FISU World University Games, stated that she goals to win seven golds on the Asian Games.
“I hope to surpass my own record set in the World Championships at the Games,” stated the 25-year-old. “The Asian Games is a perfect chance for me. Let’s just look forward to a new record.”
China’s ladies’s basketball workforce, who ended archrivals Japan’s run of 5 straight ladies’s Asia Cup titles this July, can also be seeking to defend their glory on the Asian Games.
“Asian competitions are tough, and we should focus on our daily training and fight for the best result,” stated head coach Zheng Wei.
UP FOR CHALLENGES
Unlike the ladies’s squad, China’s males’s basketball workforce is pinning their hopes on the Asian Games to spice up their morale, as they flopped on the latest FIBA World Cup and had been unable to qualify for the Paris Olympics.
“We have to fight step by step and we need to be more united to overcome the difficulties. It’s a new stage and we are ready for the new challenges,” stated guard Zhao Rui of the upcoming Games.
Led by star ahead Wang Shuang, China’s ladies’s nationwide soccer workforce introduced a 23-player roster for the Asian Games. Before heading to Hangzhou on September 19, they’ve been at a coaching camp in Suzhou, east China’s Jiangsu Province.
The Steel Roses made the ultimate however had been edged by Japan on the earlier Asian Games, and Japan and South Korea are undoubtedly among the many favorites in Hangzhou.
Olympic champion Chen Yufei was bested by her Japanese opponent within the ladies’s singles semifinals at badminton’s China Open this month, and blended doubles world No. 1 pair Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong fell to their South Korean rivals within the quarterfinals.
Chinese shuttlers are anticipated to rewrite the story on the upcoming Games as they will even face robust opponents together with world champion An Se-young. “I will try my best to prepare for the Games. Only Chen Yufei can beat Chen Yufei,” stated Hangzhou native Chen Yufei who spearheaded the 20-player badminton squad.
Racing back-to-back in an intensive competitors schedule from the Budapest World Championships, China’s observe and discipline stars, who notched solely two bronze medals, are desirous to placed on a present at house.
Sprinter Xie Zhenye, who completed eighth within the males’s 100-meter dash in Budapest, is aiming for a gold medal on the Asian Games. “As we continue to troubleshoot, I still have some time to hone my skills for the Asian Games,” Xie stated after the World Championships.
Despite a lackluster efficiency within the 2023 FIVB Volleyball Nations League, China’s males’s volleyball workforce hopes to excel on the Asian Games. “We lost a lot of games, but we also gained experience. We will improve our game and try to have better performances in Hangzhou,” stated head coach Wu Sheng.
For rising tennis star Wu Yibing, who was born and grew up in Hangzhou, the desire to win gold on the Asian Games is even stronger. “I hope to win the Asian gold at home,” stated the 23-year-old, who completed runner-up on the 2018 Asian Games.
Zheng Qinwen made the US Open ladies’s singles quarterfinals in September, setting her finest report in a Grand Slam event. She is now seeking to characterize China on the Asian Games.
“It will be my first Asian Games, and my first time playing at home in front of a home crowd since becoming a professional tennis player. I’m really looking forward to it,” stated the 20-year-old.