Zheng Jie: 'Sichuan spirit' fuels Zheng Jie
'Sichuan spirit' fuels Zheng Jie
Glowing from her newly won Beijing bronze yesterday, Chinese doubles ace Zheng Jie said it was the "Sichuan spirit" in the wake of the May 12 quake that fueled her to her podium finish in what she called the most important tournament of her life.
"People always ask me what kind of message I want to deliver to the people who suffered from the quake," said Zheng, who teamed with Yan Zi to beat Ukraine's Alona and Kateryna Bondarenko 6-2, 6-2. "The Sichuan people sent us more messages because during the disaster, they were so brave, they were positive, they never gave up. I am proud to be someone from Sichuan.
"During the Olympic Games, we fought really hard and we want to show this Sichuan spirit, that we are brave."
Chinese sports authorities have implored all their athletes to play with the same Sichuan spirit, said China's deputy Chef de Mission Cui Dalin, who believes the never-say-die attitude of the residents of the quake-hit area can boost his athletes' winning desire.
Zheng turns out to be a perfect example. She needed nearly three hours to overcome an early deficit to oust world No 15 Agnes Szavay 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 in the first round, and then rallied to beat Nuria Llagostera Vives of Spain 6-7 (7), 6-1, 6-4 just 15 hours later.
Her epic doubles victory over Svetlana Kuznetzova and Dinara Safina in the quarterfinals, which ended at 3:50 am on Saturday, was also a performance of heroic proportions.
Zheng said the Sichuan spirit will encourage her for the rest of her career.
"My home people will be with me forever," she said. "The spirit will be my motivation throughout my career, I will never forget about it.
"We were playing games in Italy on the day when the earthquake hit. We were really shocked and it was a lot of pain for all Chinese people, so I hope I can bring them some joy by playing here at the Olympics. Also, I want to say 'thank you' to those who supported me on court and cheered me on in the Sichuan dialect."
Despite being unable to match the accomplishment of Li Ting and Sun Tiantian at the Athens Games and win another gold, the Zheng and Yan's tenacious play won them high praise.
"I am proud of the girls because we won by luck four years ago, but today we won by our own strength," said national team head coach Jiang Hongwei.
"Zheng and Yan became the enemies of the world after winning two Grand Slam titles in 2006. All of our rivals know how we play, and they started researching our tactics to beat us. That's why I'm happy to see them win bronze here as they got it from their persistence."
Chinese tennis chief Sun Jinfang praised the duo's mindset as well.
"I used to worry about the weak mentality of our current athletes," Sun said. "But Zheng and Yan's play was awesome. I am pleased to see my players play this tough."
Singles' player Li Na, meanwhile, did not demonstrate the same kind of mental toughness, losing to Vera Zvonareva of Russia 6-0, 7-5 in her battle for bronze.
The 26-year-old from Hubei struggled from the beginning and didn't show the form that helped her beat Russian Svetlana Kuznetzova and Venus Williams in earlier rounds.
Li admitted she had lost motivation after losing to Safina in the semifinals.
"I didn't want to play this match, it cannot bring me excitement," she said. "I cannot make myself concentrate on this match, so I don't think it was a good result."
Source: China Daily
"People always ask me what kind of message I want to deliver to the people who suffered from the quake," said Zheng, who teamed with Yan Zi to beat Ukraine's Alona and Kateryna Bondarenko 6-2, 6-2. "The Sichuan people sent us more messages because during the disaster, they were so brave, they were positive, they never gave up. I am proud to be someone from Sichuan.
"During the Olympic Games, we fought really hard and we want to show this Sichuan spirit, that we are brave."
Chinese sports authorities have implored all their athletes to play with the same Sichuan spirit, said China's deputy Chef de Mission Cui Dalin, who believes the never-say-die attitude of the residents of the quake-hit area can boost his athletes' winning desire.
Zheng turns out to be a perfect example. She needed nearly three hours to overcome an early deficit to oust world No 15 Agnes Szavay 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 in the first round, and then rallied to beat Nuria Llagostera Vives of Spain 6-7 (7), 6-1, 6-4 just 15 hours later.
Her epic doubles victory over Svetlana Kuznetzova and Dinara Safina in the quarterfinals, which ended at 3:50 am on Saturday, was also a performance of heroic proportions.
Zheng said the Sichuan spirit will encourage her for the rest of her career.
"My home people will be with me forever," she said. "The spirit will be my motivation throughout my career, I will never forget about it.
"We were playing games in Italy on the day when the earthquake hit. We were really shocked and it was a lot of pain for all Chinese people, so I hope I can bring them some joy by playing here at the Olympics. Also, I want to say 'thank you' to those who supported me on court and cheered me on in the Sichuan dialect."
Despite being unable to match the accomplishment of Li Ting and Sun Tiantian at the Athens Games and win another gold, the Zheng and Yan's tenacious play won them high praise.
"I am proud of the girls because we won by luck four years ago, but today we won by our own strength," said national team head coach Jiang Hongwei.
"Zheng and Yan became the enemies of the world after winning two Grand Slam titles in 2006. All of our rivals know how we play, and they started researching our tactics to beat us. That's why I'm happy to see them win bronze here as they got it from their persistence."
Chinese tennis chief Sun Jinfang praised the duo's mindset as well.
"I used to worry about the weak mentality of our current athletes," Sun said. "But Zheng and Yan's play was awesome. I am pleased to see my players play this tough."
Singles' player Li Na, meanwhile, did not demonstrate the same kind of mental toughness, losing to Vera Zvonareva of Russia 6-0, 7-5 in her battle for bronze.
The 26-year-old from Hubei struggled from the beginning and didn't show the form that helped her beat Russian Svetlana Kuznetzova and Venus Williams in earlier rounds.
Li admitted she had lost motivation after losing to Safina in the semifinals.
"I didn't want to play this match, it cannot bring me excitement," she said. "I cannot make myself concentrate on this match, so I don't think it was a good result."
Source: China Daily