China has secured the women's doubles title at the Pattaya
Women's Open tennis tournament as two Chinese pairs have advanced
to the final competition.
The doubles final will see recent Australian Open champions Yan
Zi and Zheng Jie take on Athens Olympic champions Li Ting and Sun
Tiantian.
Yan and Zheng have eliminated Hsieh Su-wei and Tanasugarn
Tamarine 6-2, 7-5 to set up a final showdown with their
compatriots.
The Sichuan natives, top seeds at the Pattaya Open, have made
history two weeks ago in Melbourne, becoming the first Chinese
Grand Slam champions in tennis history.
They will go for their 10th consecutive match win as a team
against Li and Sun, the number two seeds this week, who also etched
their names in the history books when they became China's first
ever Olympic tennis medalists by capturing gold at the 2004 Athens
Olympic Games.
Li and Sun have a 8-6 lifetime rank against Yan and Zheng, but
the Australian Open winners have won the last two encounters. The
two Chinese pairs have met twice before in Tour finals, with Li and
Sun winning 6-3, 6-4 in the Tier III, 2003 Vienna final and Yan and
Zheng winning 6-4, 6-1 in the Tier IV, 2005 Hyderabad final.
(CRI February 12, 2006)
