Chinese Curling Champion Wants to Play Till 99

Home>>Sports

Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Sunday, January 05, 2003

Chinese Curling Champion Wants to Play Till 99

Zhao Zhenzhen, a newly-crowned Chinese curling champion, said Saturday in northeast China's Harbin that she would love to play curling till 99.

DISCUSSION

CHINESE

SEND TO FRIEND

Zhao Zhenzhen, a newly-crowned Chinese curling champion, said Saturday in northeast China's Harbin that she would love to play curling till 99.

"Curling is really an interesting game," Zhao told Xinhua afterwinning the first gold medal of the Winter National Games, which is to officially open on Sunday, with her teammates from Harbin, the northeastern city of China. "I want to play till 99."

The hosts came from behind to beat Mudanjiang 8-5 Saturday afternoon to claim the title of curling with four straight wins inthe round-robin tournament.

A sport introduced to the country in 1995 and debuting at this Winter National Games, curling is yet to become popular in China. Nevertheless, the 18-year-old Zhao is one of the few Chinese who had been drawn by its great attraction.

"It is not that physical but it demands accuracy, sensibility and strong mind," said Zhao, who had played ice hockey in sports school of Harbin for several years before turning into curling in 2000. Zhao's teammates were most speed skaters.

"My teammates turned into the sport for respective reasons," Zhao said. "But we all fell in love with the sport very soon."

"We all would like to take it as a life-long pursuit," she added.

Zhao broke into tears on the podium before receiving her gold medal.

"I cried because our coaches worked really hard to help us and finally we got the gold."

With the national gold in pocket, the Harbin team set their eyes on the Asian Winter Games scheduled for February 1-8 in Japan.

"We will represent China to compete in the Asian Winter Games,"said Harbin coach Tai Weidong. "Our skills were still very limitedin the world. We will try our best to learn from our opponents."

Xinhua Contributed to the Story

Questions?Comments? Click here

China's Harbin to Bid for 2014 Winter Olympics

China's Winter Games Overshadowed by Bitter Cold

Iraq Vows Fight Against US in Different Way from 1991 Gulf War ( 5 Messages)

German Maglev Expert: World's Fastest Train Puts China in the Spotlight ( 4 Messages)

Pyongyang Orders IAEA Inspectors to Leave ( 31 Messages)

China Launches 'Shenzhou IV' Unmanned Spacecraft ( 31 Messages)

China Set Trade Growth Goal at 7 Percent in 2003 ( 23 Messages)