Li Chunxia from the Chinese softball team was unsure whether the Beijing Games would be the last chance for the sport to appear in the Olympic arena.

But it is definitely her last Olympiad as a softball player.

"I don't want to leave with regret," she said. "This is my last chance and I hope that we could create a miracle. I would try to help my teammates with my experience and spirit."

A native of Chengdu, capital city of the southwestern Sichuan Province, the 31-year-old regretted she wasn't "standing with her hometown when it was jolted by the massive earthquake this past May due to training".

"I want to win an honor for Sichuan," she added.

Softball was included in the Olympic Games in 1996, when Chinese girls pocketed a silver medal in Atlanta. However, they made narrow misses from medals by finishing fourth in both Sydney and Athens Olympics.

The regretful scene repeated at the 2006 World Championships. Chinese softball team was beaten by Japan 0-1 and failed to mount podiums.

"We could have won in that match, but we didn't seize the chance," Li said. "We should do better in the Beijing Olympic Games."

A shortstop in the team, a position that requires calmness and agility, Li was one of the most experienced players.

She started playing softball since primary school. "I had been practicing field and track, before was accidentally picked up by a local coach," she said.

Her progress was rapid. Li entered the provincial team of Sichuan when she was 13 years old. Two years later, she was selected by the national training team, where she met many former ace players, including Wang Lihong, head coach of the Chinese softball team who was one of the world's top pitchers.

"At that time I was just a child and they helped me a lot," she recalled.

Talking about their coach, Li said that Wang stressed attacking.

"Thanks to her efforts, now the team is more balanced in attack and defense," she said.

Li Chunxia believed that the charm of softball was its unpredictability. "You could never guess track of the ball. It is a vie of wisdom between pitcher and batter," she noted.

After retirement, she planned to become a coach.

"If I have a chance to meet officials from International Olympic Committee, I would tell them that softball is not only popular in Europe and the United States. Hopefully after the London Games in 2012, the sport could return to the Olympic arena."

(Xinhua News Agency July 23, 2008)