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| Photo: 中体在线 |
Sometimes the favorites do not make to the end while dark horses emerge. This was the main theme of the 2009 Chinese National Games women's doubles. In the competition, the defending champion representing Shandong, Li Xiaoxia and Peng Luyang lost to Guo Yue and Hou Xiaoxu in the quarterfinals by 3-1 in surprise while the favorites of the tournament, the Beijing pairs, Guo Yan and Ding Ning and the Hebei pairs, Bai Yang and Niu Jianfeng bowed out in the quarterfinals as well.
It is unfortunate that I can't find the quarterfinal match between Ding Ning / Guo Yan and Rao Jingwen / Liu Juan which the latter pairs made to the semifinals with a 2-point margin at 19:17 after a 5-game match. The up side is we get to see some less-recognized pairs in the finals. It's not that often to see penhold female athletes in the finals of the Chinese National Games, while Liu Juan, a left-handed penholder made to the women's doubles final with Rao Jingwen.
In the finals, Guo Yue and Hou Xiaoxu representing Team Liaoning (in pink) played against Rao Jingwen and Liu Juan representing Hubei (in yellow). There were some pretty amazing rallies and shots, especially the point at 27:57 where Liu Juan played a spiny reverse backhand flick near the net. Despite Guo Yue had paired up with Hou Xiaoxu for less than a year, their shots were overall better than their rivals and walked away with the women's doubles title with a 4-1 victory.
I have a hard time of finding footage of the women's doubles. Does it have to do with the events or players? Comment below and tell me what makes a match interesting and what is your favorite event?
Although I make frequent updates so that I can include more CNG throwbacks before the Games starts, there are always more amazing matches than that I can include. No worries, I have created a playlist to include most of matches from the past Chinese National Games. If I have missed any matches, please remind me in the comment box, I will add them back to the playlist!
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