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)