CHENGDU: The three-day rowing tournament at the Chengdu Universiade began here on Friday with 15 golds up for grab.
China coach He Yi said that 46 Chinese rowers are competing in all 15 events and that they will try their best to get wins as many as possible despite the hot weather.
So far, the Chinese rowers ranked No. 1 in the women’s and men’s pairs preliminaries to advance to the finals.
Sun Hongjing finished the race at seven minutes and 53.67 seconds in top place to reach the semifinal of women’s single sculls. Tang Haiqi of China led the rowers in the lightweight men’s single sculls preliminary into the semi.
China also took the lead in the men’s four and advanced directly to the final. Zhang Shuxian, Liu Xiaoxin, Wang Zifeng, and Xu Xingye overwhelmed their opponents in 6:47.16.
“Our goal is to win the championship in the final this time,” Liu Xiaoxin said.
The women’s eight also witnessed China’s domination in the preliminary race.
As all the 15 finals take place on Sunday, rowing produces the highest number of golds per day for a single event at the Universiade.
