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 Tian Liang (left) and Jin Ziwei of China pose with their medals after winning the women's double sculls at the 16th Asian Games on Thursday. Edmond Tang / China Daily |
GUANGZHOU - China's Jin Ziwei and Tian Liang picked up gold in the women's double sculls on Thursday in seven minutes and 5.68 seconds, 11.47 ahead of their Vietnamese rivals at Guangzhou International Rowing Center.
For Jin, 25, it was the perfect end to an Asiad that she played a crucial role in, having earlier served as the flag bearer for China.
It also marked her return to grace after the rower failed to win over Chinese fans in recent years despite contributing to the country's quadruple sculls gold medal at the Beijing Olympics in 2008.
"I was very surprised to be the flag bearer," said Jin. "After that, people began focusing on me and the rowing team more and more. I'm very glad to see that and I will cherish the moment."
Jin said her newfound popularity has taken her interest in micro-blogging to a new level.
"I've been tweeting for some time, but nowadays the public is paying more attention to me so I update it more often and share my feelings and schedules with people."
In the double sculls, the Chinese duo, which has paired for the first time, took a safe lead from the start and never looked seriously threatened.
"Though there were only four teams, we took the match seriously," said Jin. "We never thought about our opponents. We just followed our game plan."
She said she didn't know whether the two would row together at the 2012 London Olympics.
In the day's other contests, Huang Wenyi and Pan Feihong took the 100m gold for China in the lightweight women's double sculls.
"The key to our victory was teamwork. There's a kind of chemistry between us," said Huang. "We face difficulties together, and I believe that's the most important thing for us."
On the first day of the rowing finals, Chinese crews took more gold medals in the men's double sculls, courtesy of Sui Hui and Zhang Liang, and the men's lightweight double sculls, won by Sun Jie and Zhang Guolin.
China also won the women's fours, while Japan clinched the men's lightweight fours, one of the few events that China did not enter.
China Daily
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