Peng ends Games with 4 golds
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Peng Shuai lifted herself into the superstar ranks at the National Games by sweeping all four titles on offer in women's tennis.
Liu Xiang dominated the men's 110m hurdles for a third successive time and swimmer Liu Zige reclaimed her world record in the women's 200m butterfly, however Peng's feat was just as noteworthy.
The world No 45 from Tianjin demolished No 183 Han Xinyun from Zhejiang 6-2, 6-1 in the women's singles final to bag her fourth gold medal at Jinan's Olympic Center yesterday, surpassing Olympic champion Liu and world champion Zhang Lin, who both won three events in the swimming pool.
"I really didn't expect so many gold medals before the Games. I gained no gold medals at the past two events. It's really a big surprise for me," Peng said after the singles final.
"Every one (medal) was not easy at all. There have been hard times but we just held on and went through. I'm so happy now."
Just 18 hours before the singles final, Peng paired with Xu Yifan to win the women's doubles trophy, upsetting two-time Grand Slam winners Zheng Jie and Yan Zi of Sichuan, 6-4, 6-1. On Sunday, Peng, with partner Li Zhe, fought back from 5-7, 1-4 down to defeat Beijing's Yu Xinyuan and Liu Wanting to win the mixed doubles final, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2. She also led Tianjin to the team championship in July.
Turning professional at the age of 15, Peng was once considered China's brightest prospect. However, while compatriots Zheng and Li Na have reached record highs of No 15 in the world for Chinese players, Peng has failed to live up to expectations and has never cracked the world top 30 or advanced beyond the third round of a Grand Slam event.
She had a nightmare time at the last National Games where the then 19-year-old burst into tears during her loss to Zheng in the singles title match.
This time, Peng emerged the champion; Li quit in her opening match due to a nagging knee injury while Zheng lost to rising star Zhang Shuai in the quarterfinals.
"I've learned a lot in the past few years, not only in terms of technique but more in mentality," she said. "I stay calm and confident instead of starting to panic when having problems on the court. I find myself more stable and it helps."
She attributes her success to the lessons she learned from the victims of the devastating Sichuan earthquake last May, which claimed more than 80,000 lives
"I was competing at a tournament at that time and saw the sad news on TV. It just suddenly helped me figure out a lot of things," Peng said.
"I saw many people my age were suffering so much from the earthquake but they still held on and remained optimistic. Then I just considered the setbacks I encountered as being almost nothing in comparison. "
With the success in Jinan and her stunning run at the China Open earlier this month, where she downed two former world No 1s - Jelena Jankovic of Serbia and Russia's Maria Sharapova - to reach the quarterfinals, Peng is expecting a career-best season next year.
"Peng has had some amazing performances here but I do not think she has reached her peak," Gao Shenyang, deputy director of the Chinese Tennis Association, said. "She is becoming much more mature and I believe she can do even better."
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