China’s golden dividend, Draper in, Messi out, what happened overnight in world of sport
Investing in sport is paying off for China in Paris, while four of the world’s best golfers hope a made-for-TV match will do the same for them
Wednesday was not a good day for Chinese tennis. It started with Zheng Qinwen being unceremoniously dumped out of the US Open, and ended with Wang Ziying being similarly well beaten in the semi-finals of the women’s wheelchair tennis in Paris.
But the march to Paralympic domination continues nonetheless, and the country’s return on its sporting investment added more gold to the medal tally overnight.
In other news, Lionel Messi is no longer going to be the world’s best footballer, Jack Draper could be Andy Murray’s heir apparent and another contrived golf tournament is on the horizon. So, here’s what happened while you were sleeping.
A decade in the making
China’s athletes added another nine golds to the country’s collection on Wednesday in Paris, taking the overall number to 62 and the total medal count to 135.
Among those wins were two titles in fencing. Zou Xufeng beat compatriot Gu Haiyan in the women’s foil category A final, and Sun Gang retained his Paralympic title in the men’s event.
“I trained 10 years for this moment,” Zou said. “This medal is heavy, and also it’s heavy to me. It means a lot.”
Elsewhere, sprinter Shi Yiting won the women’s T36 100m, and swimmer Jiang Yuyan took gold in the women’s S7 100m freestyle.
You get what you pay for
Another sport where China dominates no matter the occasion involves the lifting of heavy objects. In this case powerlifting.
