After claiming the women's individual sabre gold and team bronze at the National Fencing Championships in Nanjing, Chinese fencer Shao Yaqi has high expectations for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics.

In the individual event, the current world No. 4 didn't experience many challenges until facing her national teammate Yang Hengyu in the final, winning 15-13 in a close match. In the team event, Shao led Tianjin to beat Shanghai 45-35 to claim bronze.

"I feel good in general but there's still room to improve," said Shao. "I am more confident now and the team is bonding with good chemistry, which is really helpful for the upcoming Olympic Games."

In the women's sabre, China has never been crowned world champion. The best result at the Olympics was an individual silver by Tan Xue at Athens 2004 and a team silver at Beijing 2008.

Talking about the upcoming Tokyo Olympics, the 24-year-old Shao who won bronze at the Sabre World Cup in France in 2019 is confident and determined.

"Everyone wants to fight for the gold, both individual and team events," said the Tianjin native. "Of course it won't be easy as Russia, France and Italy are all medal contenders. But we will try to achieve good results."

"Our international coach has been helping us with skills and tactics, strengthening what we are already good at and working on what we still need to improve."

The women's individual and team sabre events of the Tokyo Olympics will take place on July 26 and 31 respectively.

Source:
courtesy of XINHUA NEWS AGENCY

by XINHUA NEWS AGENCY

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