Rising Chinese women's tennis star, Peng Shuai, is quite happy to
be a part of the national team, but isn't too excited about
submitting to the national training program.
The 20-year-old, who used to train in the US, appeared out of
nowhere last year to beat Elena Dementieva, Kim Clijsters and other
world tennis aces to reach No.31, the highest ranking ever achieved
by a Chinese player.
But Peng broke away from the national team after the 10th
National Games last year because her request for separate training
was rejected by the National Tennis Administration Center (NTAC).
Things came to a head in January, and Peng stopped training with
and competing for the national squad.
The situation seems to have cooled down a little since then. On
February 13, Peng rejoined her national teammates who were
preparing for the upcoming Dubai Championships. However, Peng will
not compete in Dubai. She will instead train with the Tianjin men's
team, according to Jiang Hongwei, head coach of the national
team.
The "reconciliation" is a sign that both Peng and the national
squad have reached some kind of compromise. For the moment, Peng
will stay on the Tianjin team, but is still considered as a
national team player. She can choose her tournaments but is obliged
to represent China in major events including the Federation Cup,
Asian Games and Olympic Games.
In addition, Peng has to pay participation fees in any
non-international tournament that she decides to play in. She also
has to give a portion of her winnings to the NTAC.
The matter is still under discussion and a solution should be
announced soon, according to Chengdu Economic Daily.
Peng has been criticized for being "ungrateful". But sports
agent Ren Haojiang thinks otherwise: "Independent development
doesn't conflict with national interest. Better training can only
push Peng to achieve more for her country." He added that policies
should be developed to regulate the funding of training for
national athletes, particularly in the absence of a union or
association for athletes should they need assistance.
Commenting on the NTAC's opposition to Peng's request for
personal training, Jin Shan, a researcher with the Beijing
Municipal Academy of Social Sciences, said that the country invests
in training athletes and therefore there's the belief that the
athletes belong to the country and have to abide by the national
purpose.
In other news, China's Zheng Jie and Li Na lost to Russia's
Anastasia Myskina (3-6, 7-6, 1-6) and Daniela Hantuchova of
Slovakia (6-3, 4-6, 6-7) respectively early this morning on the
opening day of the Dubai Championships.
(China.org.cn by Li Xiao, February 21, 2006)
