The Chinese national rowing team members got a boost to their morale on Saturday, as they advanced into the finals of the 2008 Spring China National Rowing Championships in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province.
Xu Dongxiang, gold medalist at the 2006 World Rowing Championships, continued her good performance from heat to semifinal as she won ticket to the final of the 2-kilometer lightweight women's single sculls.
Xu, a national team member, won by a huge margin the 8-kilometer lightweight women's single sculls on Thursday, the first day of the four-day competitions.
Tian Jun and Huang Zhongming, 2007 world cup champions, breezed to the final of the lightweight men's pair. "We'll do our utmost to improve strength as well as techniques," said Tian, a Hubei native. "We don't mind how hard the training is."
"Our ultimate goal is to win medals at the Olympics in August," said Tian. "We didn't change our daily training for the national championship because we can not afford an adjustment at the cost of disturbing our preparation for the Olympics."
"Many times, we want to cry when we are so tired from the hard training, but it is thrilling to see the progress we've made," said Huang.
Other renowned rowers, including Zhang Xiuyun, Chen Haixia, and Li Qin, also successfully advanced into the finals that are to be held on Sunday.
Most young rowers from China's national rowing team, especially those hopefuls to attend the 2008 Olympics, took the tournament being held more as a test of their winter training and further preparation for the Olympics.
More than 200 rowers nationwide, including dozens from the national rowing team, attended the four-day championship held in the Thousand Island Lake in the suburbs of Hangzhou.
(Xinhua News Agency April 6, 2008)