NAGOYA:
China’s Wang Xiyu, fresh from conquering top seed Alexandra Eala, toppled Zhang Shuai to win Asian Games women’s tennis singles gold on Friday — and a ticket to the Los Angeles Olympics.
The 25-year-old Wang breezed past her compatriot 6-2, 6-1 in 66 minutes at the Higashiyama Park Tennis Center in Nagoya.
Tennis is one of seven sports at the Games where the winners receive an Olympic qualification place.
Wang paid tribute to the 37-year-old Zhang, who has won multiple Grand Slam doubles titles and has now added a second Asian Games singles silver medal to the one she won in 2018 in Jakarta.
The veteran Zhang also bagged a team tennis gold in Guangzhou in 2010, when Wang would have been just nine years old.
“She is someone I really respect. Everything that she’s been through is also a form of encouragement to me,” said Wang.
“Still, on the court, the biggest form of respect I can show is by bringing my best to play her.”
The one-sided match was a contrast to the battle Wang had with Philippines star Eala 24 hours earlier, when the Chinese world number 85 came through 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 after two hours and 34 minutes of intense action.
“This is what sport, what elite competition, is like. Your actions speak for you,” added Wang.
“It’s when you experience success through the trials that you know what it was all for. Keep trying.”
She then revealed her tennis skills were way ahead of her culinary efforts, but said it was important never to give up.
“I tried to make a dish of stir-fried cauliflower and it all became burnt,” Wang said.
“There’s some difficulty in that dish, it’s so easy to get it wrong. I’ll keep trying.”
The men’s singles gold medal match on Saturday will see Hong Kong’s world number 100 Coleman Wong take on China’s 111th-ranked Wu Yibing.