China Sports Weekly (5.25-5.31)
1. Sun defends singles crown at table tennis worlds
World No. 1 Sun Yingsha defeated second-ranked Wang Manyu 4-3 to retain her women's singles title at the World Table Tennis Championships on May 25, adding to the mixed doubles crown she had claimed earlier in the tournament.
Roared on by a lively crowd, Sun prevailed over the 2021 world champion in a thrilling final, winning 11-6, 12-10, 8-11, 5-11, 12-10, 11-13, 11-7 in 88 minutes.
Sun and her mixed doubles partner Wang Chuqin combined for three gold medals to help China sweep four out of five at the event.
Wang won his first world championships singles title after defeating World Cup champion Hugo Calderano of Brazil 12-10, 11-3, 4-11, 11-2, 11-7, while Wang Manyu and Kuai Man were crowned in the women's doubles.
2. Wuhan claims historic AFC Women's Champions League title
Wuhan Jiangda made history in China and Asia by defeating Melbourne City to win the first ever AFC Women's Champions League title.
Wuhan's path to glory was anything but smooth. Just five days after winning their fifth consecutive Chinese Super League title, they began their AFC campaign. Their group-stage performance was shaky, and they just scraped through into the knockout stages after two defeats and just one win.
But in the knockout rounds, the team was transformed. They edged past Japanese powerhouse Urawa Red Diamonds in a dramatic penalty shootout, then dispatched Ho Chi Minh City in the semis. Facing top-tier opponents from Japan, Vietnam and Australia, Wuhan's squad played 330 minutes across three matches, with two of them ending with penalties.
3. China caps off Malaysia Masters with titles in four categories
Chinese shuttlers dominated the finals of the 2025 Malaysia Masters, taking titles in four categories on May 25.
Men's singles shuttler Li Shifeng overpowered Srikanth Kidambi of India 21-11, 21-9 at the Axiata Arena.
In the women's singles, Wang Zhiyi bested compatriot Han Yue 13-21, 21-13, 21-18 in a hard-fought battle lasting over an hour.
The women's doubles final was an all-Chinese affair, with Liu Shengshu and Tan Ning outplaying Jia Yifan and Zhang Shuxian 21-17, 21-18.
In another battle between compatriots, Feng Yanzhe and Huang Dongping overcame Jiang Zhenbang and Wei Yaxin 21-17, 14-21, 21-16 in the mixed doubles final.
4. China's Zheng advances to last 16 at French Open
Paris Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen of China continued her strong run at the French Open on May 30, advancing to the women's singles round of 16 with a straight-sets win over 18-year-old Canadian qualifier Victoria Mboko.
The eighth seed needed just under 90 minutes to beat Mboko 6-3, 6-4 in their first career meeting, marking her second appearance in the last 16 at Roland Garros after her breakthrough run in 2022.
Zheng will next face Liudmila Samsonova of Russia as she looks to reach her first French Open quarterfinal.
5. Yang Yang re-elected WADA vice president
China's former Winter Olympic champion Yang Yang has been re-elected World Anti-Doping Agency vice president, together with president Witold Banka, for a third and final term at a virtual Foundation Board meeting on May 29.
Yang and Banka were first elected at the 2019 World Conference on Doping in Sport. Their new three-year term will run from January 1, 2026 until December 31, 2028.
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Indian Express
12 hours ago
- Indian Express
After three podium finishes at continental level, gymnast Pranati Nayak braces for Chinese challenge on vault ahead of Asian Games
She has a hat-trick of bronze medals on the vault at the Asian Gymnastics Championships, but it's the elusive gold that keeps Pranati Nayak pushing through pain, living a monkish, solitary existence with no social life in Bhubaneswar. She also has to make do with eating measured morsels to keep her weight down, so she can push through an extra half of a rotation, and do a 720 Tsukahara, rather than a 540. 'And now the Chinese have started showing up in vault which they didn't earlier,' Pranati says in mock apocalyptic tones, laughing at her luck, a month after returning from Jecheon, South Korea, with a third bronze, after Ulaanbaatar 2019 and Doha 2022. It was much before her qualification stumble at the continental championships when her three oversteppings cost her a penalty that she gleaned the competition and noticed her nemesis – the Chinese. The global powerhouse in gymnastics aces the Floor exercise, uneven bars and balance beam, but have made headway into Vault at the Asian level, a novelty for Pranati who admits to being deflated at the literal leaps-and-bounds progress of the Chinese vaulters, who have not won a women's vault medal at the Olympics since their bronze at Beijing 2008. Sure enough, Paris Olympian Zhang Yinan took gold at Jecheon with 13.650 on the vault, closely followed by Nguyn Thi Quyhn Nhur with 13.583. Pranati averaged 13.466. 'It was tough to digest. I didn't think Chinese vaulters would be a challenge, so I will have to prepare for that before the Asian Games. In qualification when I was 4th, there was the (Uzbek, 48-year- old) legend Oksana Chusovitina, and the Vietnamese. But the Chinese had me worried,' she says. 'Qualifying was not great, I was scared.' Attempting the Tsukahara 540 (Difficulty 5.2, like the Chinese and Vietnamese), Pranati stuttered with three oversteps and copped a penalty. 'We train on Gymnova brand apparatus. There it was Tyson, a different make of springboard. With my ankle injury, take-off on this brand was a disaster,' she explains, not as an excuse, but stating her inability on a lift-off, where she didn't gain the spring for elevation and rotations, affecting her landing. In the finals, she had 13.666 on her first vault with Difficulty 5.2 (scoring 8.466 on Execution) and in the second, a handspring. Though her D-Score of 4.4 was higher than everyone, her 12.866 (highest and equalising Chinese score, with execution at 8.466), could not push her beyond bronze. 'Gold and silver were there for the taking but I couldn't stick a clean landing. One step I ended forward and couldn't go past 14.000,' the 30-year-old rued. While she already has a World Cup bronze from Antalya this year, and is headed to another World Cup series in September, the training-competition balance has had to be carefully managed at her Bhubaneswar base. 'The ankle injury from two years ago is not big. But I have to manage it. It's one week of rest and strengthening and one week of vault training,' she explains, adding that she also has to undergo a bunch of ultrasound examinations for elbow and ankle issues. Thanks to her funding from Welspun, she can access the best medical facilities at a top hospital in Odisha and a curated diet, but Pranati is aware of the challenge. 'At 30, recovery is not easy. I'm maintaining a very strict diet, measuring food, so I can be fit to give optimum results,' she says. All junk has been out of the picture and mildly salted dry fruits are her only indulgence. 'The machines are expensive so that funding helps,' she says, as does the guidance of Ashok Mishra. While she remains India's best-performing gymnast currently, ensuring her personal coach travels (he didn't to Korea) requires funds beyond her TOPS allocation. Being in the well-kitted-out facility means Pranati can access the ABTP (Abhinav Bindra Targeting Performance) facility on campus, a huge help. 'But it's ice baths in the room and 2/3 rehab sessions at ABTP,' she says. The Shockwave therapy for muscle pain is a huge addition she has availed, but getting the peak fitness/form/ confidence and pushing technique barriers needs everything coming together. With the Chinese targeting the vault, Pranati literally has to raise her ambitions on higher Difficulty vaults with an eye on the Asian Games.
Indian Express
15 hours ago
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Divya Deshmukh defeats Harika Dronavalli in all-Indian clash to make her way to FIDE Women's World Cup semifinals
Divya Deshmukh on Monday knocked out her compatriot GM Harika Dronavalli 2-0 in the Rapid tiebreaks of the quarterfinals and moved to the semifinals of FIDE Women's World Cup. The 19-year-old will be up against China GM Tan Zhongyi in the last 4. On Sunday, the match between two had ended in a draw which necessitated the tie-break games where Divya came up trumps on Monday. Much like Saturday's 31-move encounter, both players avoided significant risks on Sunday, though their 60-move duel lasted nearly twice as long before ending in an agreed draw, clearly conserving energy for the decisive tiebreaks. On Sunday, Koneru Humpy played out a fine counterattacking game to hold International Master Yuxin Song of China and march into the semifinals. Having won the first game with white pieces, Humpy was only a draw away from reaching the last four stage, and she achieved it after a keenly contested second game against the Chinese. With fourth place assured, Humpy will get two chances to reach the top three which will also guarantee her a place at next Women's Candidates' tournament for which the top three from here qualify. Grandmaster R Vaishali ran out of luck as she lost from slightly better prospects against former world women's champion Zhongyi Tan of China. Vaishali who had drawn the first game lost by the same score as Song. Apart from Tan, top seed Tingjie Lei of China also made it to the semifinals at the expense of Nana Dzagnidze of Georgia. Yuxin Song had to win to stay in the hunt against Humpy and her preferred choice was the Jobava's London, an opening that is fancied these days by many strong Grandmasters. Humpy equalised without much ado but then sacrificed two pawns in tandem to give white some hopes. However, Song's pawn structure was really broken with three pawns standing on a sole file and Humpy found her counter play in the centre. Recovering the pawns Humpy was happy to lead the game to a level rook and pawns endgame. Song tried in vain for 53 moves before splitting the point. (With agency inputs)
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Business Standard
17 hours ago
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FIDE Women's World Cup: Humpy enters semifinals after draw with Song
Indian Grandmaster Koneru Humpy played out a fine counterattacking game to hold International Master Yuxin Song of China and march into the semifinals of the FIDE Women's Chess World Cup here on Sunday. Having won the first game with white pieces, Humpy was only a draw away from reaching the last four stage, and she achieved it after a keenly contested second game against the Chinese. With fourth place assured, Humpy will get two chances to reach the top three which will also guarantee her a place at next Women's Candidates' tournament for which the top three from here qualify. The all-Indian duel between Grandmaster D Harika and IM Divya Deshmukh ended in a draw which means that the two will battle it out in the tie-break games scheduled for Monday. Grandmaster R Vaishali ran out of luck as she lost from slightly better prospects against former world women's champion Zhongyi Tan of China. Vaishali who had drawn the first game lost by the same score as Song. Apart from Tan, top seed Tingjie Lei of China also made it to the semifinals at the expense of Nana Dzagnidze of Georgia. Yuxin Song had to win to stay in the hunt against Humpy and her preferred choice was the Jobava's London, an opening that is fancied these days by many strong Grandmasters. Humpy equalised without much ado but then sacrificed two pawns in tandem to give white some hopes. However, Song's pawn structure was really broken with three pawns standing on a sole file and Humpy found her counter play in the centre. Recovering the pawns Humpy was happy to lead the game to a level rook and pawns endgame. Song tried in vain for 53 moves before splitting the point. Vaishali took her chances in the middle game and got the dynamic balance she was looking for. However, resourceful as she is, Tan capitalised on an unforced error to gain the upper hand. Vaishali again got some chances according to the computer but it was always a tall order to find all correct moves. Harika tried safely as white and like the previous game the players reached a drawn rook and pawns endgame. Interestingly this is the only match that goes into tie-break games of shorter duration which also means that there will be two Indians in the semifinals. Quarterfinal results: Koneru Humpy (Ind) beat Yuxin Song (Chn) 1.5-0.5; Nana Dzagnidze (Geo) lost to Tingjie Lei (Chn) 0-2; R Vaishali (Ind) lost to Tan Zhongyi (Chn) 0.5-1.5; Divya Deshmukh (Ind) drew with D Harika (Ind) 1-1 goes to tiebreaker.
