China will strive for medals in both women's singles and doubles events at the Beijing Olympics, national team head coach Jiang Hongwei told a press conference in Guangzhou.
Grand Slam champions Zheng Jie and Yan Zi have re-ignited fans' gold-medal desires on the heels of the record-breaking success of Li Ting and Sun Tiantian at the Athens Games. But Jiang said a singles medal is also at top of his list.
"China's Olympic goal is to win medals in both singles and doubles events," Jiang said. "As long as our players are healthy for the Beijing Olympics, I think the goal is accessible."
The Chinese team had an unlucky year as the team's top players suffered injuries and the losses increased. But now that top players Li Na and Zheng Jie have returned from injury, the team will be at full strength when it begins its final sprint to the Olympics next month.
"Olympics is the number one thing in the next season," Jiang said. "We will have different programs specifically designed for the Beijing Games. Now we have 50 staff members working with our five elite players. I think not even Roger Federer can have so many people serving him."
According to the Olympic rankings system, the top 50 singles players and top 10 doubles players will automatically be on China's roster.
"I hope we will have four players in the singles draw and two pairs in doubles. If we are able to enter with such a massive force, we will have a chance to achieve what we are dreaming of."
The last year has been a bad one for Chinese players, who had made significant progress by winning gold at the Athens Games and winning doubles trophies at the Australian and Wimbledon Opens.
But two-time Grand Slam women's doubles winner Zheng Jie and China's current female No 1 Li Na both missed half of the 2007 season with injuries. Without its leading stars, the rest of the team could not keep up last year's momentum.
The 24-year-old Zheng, who partnered with Yan Zi to win the women's doubles at the Australian Open and Wimbledon in 2006, injured her left ankle in Roland Garros this year and hasn't taken the court since.
To keep his players healthy, Jiang will let the team play fewer tournaments and plans to skip most of the clay-court season.
"We have to pick and choose," he said. "Our Olympic players won't compete in small tournaments anymore as they will focus on Tier I and II events only.
"We won't play the whole clay and grass season because it used to be our most challenging time. The players got sick and injured during it."
Jiang also said Sun Tiantian, one half of the Athens gold-medal team in 2004, will team up with singles ace Peng Shuang as the second pair following Zheng and Yan.
form: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/olympics/2007-12/19/content_6332046.htm
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