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Tennis-Golden girls lead China's charge onto world scene
2004-09-03
BEIJING - China's surprise Olympic women's doubles gold medallists Li Ting and Sun Tiantian are hoping their success in Athens leads to bigger things on the world's tennis circuits."Our next goal is to play well at the China Open," Su said at a press conference in Beijing on Friday. "Our medal will be a big boost for Chinese tennis, getting more people to play and understand the game," said Li. The pair's unexpected medal is another sign that a concerted push by the Chinese government to develop tennis before the 2008 Games in Beijing is paying off. There is rising public interest in tennis in a nation long obsessed with its smaller form, ping pong. Despite sometimes pricey court fees, expanding numbers of China's burgeoning middle class are picking up racquets or enrolling their children in tennis classes. The chance to see players of the calibre of Serena Williams or Carlos Moya in the China Open will also help promote the game in China. The men's China Open ATP tournament in Beijing starts on September 13 and the women's WTA event a week later. Sun and Li are the first to say, however, their gold medal does not mean they are among the world's elite doubles teams. "We never thought we would get gold. We didn't have very high hopes going in," Li said. "The strongest players don't play at the Olympics." Sun's coach Zhang Qi said: "They have the ability to keep up with top players, but maybe not to be top in the world." Reuters
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