"I must say sorry for that," joked Zhang. "Before the match, I begged to her 'Please be kind for the sake of my strained leg', and Li just took it very seriously."

"She could have been more aggressive and had less unforced errors," she added.

Li, however, blamed herself for losing the final.

"I failed to play as well as Zhang did. That's why she won the title and I'm the loser," said the 20-year-old. "You might have thought yourself good enough, but you know it's not that case when you face someone like Zhang Yining."

Also trained by national coach Li Sun, Li Xiaoxia has been considered the next leader after Zhang of the Chinese women's team.

"There are still a lot for me to learn from Zhang, and this tournament is a very good opportunity especially after the water-based glue racket was introduced," said Li, who claimed her first major title in the World Cup last September after missing out on the Beijing Olympics.

"I think, first of all, I should play more aggressively, just like Zhang does," said Li.

Zhang, a Grand Slam winner of Olympic, world championship and World Cup titles, said what Li lacks is just a chance.

"She's already a top class player, but had not as many chances as I did since she's much younger," said Zhang.

"Now the chance comes as she is World Cup winner, and next she should focus on how to make it count."

The pair are expected to lead China in the world championships in Japan in April.

(Xinhua News Agency January 12, 2009)