Local Heroes

CHINA DAILY August 23, 2014 Page 7 AROUND JIANGSU LOCAL HEROES Jiangsu province is home to some of the country's most dominant athletes of the modern era WANG HAIBIN The current head coach of the Chinese men’s foil team, Wang Haibin made his fi rst Olympic appearance in 1992 when he lost in the second round in indi- vidual foil and fi nished 10th in the team foil event. He made it to the round of 16 in the indi- vidual foil at the 1996 Olym- pics and won the silver medal as part of the Chinese foil team in 2000. In 2004, he won silver again in team foil. As a coach, Wang led the Chi- nese men’s foil team to gold at the World Fencing Championships. HU WEIDONG CHEN RUOLIN Hu Weidong is a former Chi- At the age of 22, diver Chen synchronized platform at the She is the fi rst Chinese woman nese basketball player. In 1985, Ruolin became the indisputable 2008 Summer Olympics in Bei- diver to win gold in women’s plat- Hu joined the Jiangsu Drag- leader of women’s profession- jing. She won the same events at form events at the Olympics, FINA ons junior team and made his al diving. She won gold in the the London 2012 Summer Olym- Diving World Cup and the FINA debut with the national team women’s 10m platform and 10m pics. World Championships. two years later. He is a two- time MVP of the Chinese Bas- ketball Association, and led the GE FEI & GU JUN league in scoring three times. Hu made a halfcourt shot in One of the most successful wom- the 1994 Goodwill Games, en’s doubles partnerships in the in which China collected the history of badminton, Ge Fei and bronze medal, its only podium Gu Jun are two-time Olympic gold fi nish in a major international medalists and have won two Bad- tournament. Considered to be minton World Federation Champi- China’s answer to Michael Jor- onship gold medals. dan, Hu was o ered the chance They dominated women’s dou- to play in the NBA in 1998, but bles for more than a decade — win- was injured when the Dallas ning more than 30 international Mavericks offered him a con- term, 10-day contract with the titles — until their retirement after tract, thus failing to become the Orlando Magic in 2000, but was the 2000 Olympics. For 4 1/2 years, fi rst Chinese to play in the NBA. injured shortly after and was they went unbeaten before los- in April 2000. the same year as Gu. In 2008, Ge He was then offered a short- unable to take up the o er. ing to compatriots Yang Wei and A native of Nanjing, Ge joined was inducted into the Badminton Huang Nanyan at the Japan Open the Chinese national team in 1993, Hall of Fame. WU JINGYU DING JUNHUI Chinese taekwondo practitio- The face of Chinese snooker, ner Wu Jingyu won gold at the Ding Junhui, began playing the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olym- cue sport at the age of 9. Ding pics in the –49 kg class. Experts and Scotland’s John Higgins are say she is well prepared to the only teenagers in the history repeat in 2016. of the sport to win three rank- Wu began learning taekwon- ing titles. In 2002, Ding won do at the age of 12, overwhelm- the Asian Championship and ing competitors with her tech- the Under-21 Snooker Champi- nique and explosive power. Her onship. He became the young- signature axe kick is her deadli- est winner of the IBSF World est weapon. Under-21 Championship at the Wu is currently continuing age of 15. her college education at the At the age of 27, Ding has Tianjin University of Technol- racked up more than 350 centu- ogy and the Suzhou University help promote the event in the ry breaks, which is a score of 100 of Science and Technology. Her hope she could pass her knowl- points or more within one visit at hobbies include music, movies edge and experience to a new the table without missing a shot. mother to sell their house in order enrolled at Shanghai Jiao Tong and porcelain art. The Nanjing generation. She recently attend- A key fi gure in Ding’s success is for their son to pursue snooker as University to study business Youth Olympic Games Organiz- ed the unveiling of the mascot his father, who persuaded Ding’s a career. In December 2006, he administration and management. ing Committee invited Wu to for the Nanjing Games..

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