HANGZHOU, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) — The Hangzhou Asian Games rowing competitors begins on September 20 on the Fuyang Water Sports Center and China expects to win what could possibly be the primary gold medal of the Games.
China’s rowing crew is dominant in Asia, having taken 9 golds and one silver on the final Asian Games in 2018. At the lately concluded 2023 World Rowing Championships, Chinese rowers and para-rowers clinched two medals and eight Olympic and Paralympic berths for Paris 2024.
For Hangzhou, they despatched a complete of 37 athletes, together with 13 who participated within the Tokyo Olympics.
“Our team, which includes young rowers and Olympic champions, is generally ready after nine months of preparation,” mentioned Zhang Dan, deputy chief of China’s rowing crew.
The first gold medal of the Asian Games could possibly be produced within the ladies’s light-weight double sculls on September 24. China will likely be represented within the occasion by Zou Jiaqi and Qiu Xiuping, who took sixth place on the 2023 World Championships.
The ladies’s quadruple sculls crew, composed of Cui Xiaotong, Lyu Yang, Zhang Ling and Chen Yunxia, will try for one more good efficiency in Hangzhou after having gained gold on the Tokyo Olympics.
“We will fight to be the champion, and hopefully we can win in all rowing events,” mentioned Cui.
In males’s rowing, 36-year-old Zhang Liang and associate Liu Zhiyu, who took China’s and Asia’s first Olympic medal in males’s rowing, will proceed to journey the waves on the water. Zhang, who has already gained three golds on the Asian Games and one on the World Championships, will even compete within the males’s double sculls and males’s single sculls.
Men’s rowing competitions on the Asian Games have often seen battles between China and Japan. After dropping to Zhang 5 years in the past in Jakarta, Ryuta Arakawa of Japan is bound to show a fierce opponent.
“Winning glory for the country is the responsibility of every Chinese athlete, and we shall do our best to complete this task and make a good start for China,” mentioned Zhang.
The Asian Games rowing competitors runs till September 25.