At the 10th Sudirman World Cup Mixed Team Badminton Championship in Glasgow, Scotland, defending champion China claimed the Sudirman Cup for the record sixth time after beating Indonesia 3-0 in the final. Zhang Ning, the reigning Olympic champion, was excited after winning the women's singles for China because this was the last time she took part in the game. She planed to retire after the Beijing 2008 Games.

Zhang Ning enjoys playing badminton and continues striving for victory despite her age.[china.com]

Zhang Ning is the "big sister" in the Chinese badminton team. Players from her time or even some younger ones have retired in recent years. But Zhang Ning is still competing. By far, Zhang Ning has played badminton for 16 years on the national team and gone through more trials than her teammates.

She was only 19 years old when she competed in the 1994 Uber Cup finals. In the women's singles, she was defeated by Mia Audina-Tjiptawan, who was 3 years younger than her. In this game, Zhang Ning's team lost the title, but her opponent became famous overnight. For the next few years, Zhang Ning was still haunted by this debacle. While younger players like Ye Zhaoying and Gong Zhichao were growing, Zhang Ning remained unnoticed as a regular player.

"I had thought of quitting. At the end of 2002, I was so discouraged because I had played badminton for over ten years and had nothing to show for it. I was losing my confidence. Then I said I wanted to leave." Talking about her inner struggle at that time, she still shows fear.

"As a matter of fact, I was still not willing to give up badminton. My coach Li Yongbo said that he believed in me and asked me to stay at least one more year." Zhang knew that she did not want to leave, too, so she stayed.

Zhang finally won the game at the Athens Olympics. In the women's singles final, Zhang met her former opponent Mia Audina-Tjiptawan. Zhang Ning lost the first round, but she fought bravely and won the gold by 2:1.

Zhang set world records for being the oldest world class badminton athlete in the world. She won the women's singles title at the World Championship at the age of 28. At the age of 29, she won the women's singles gold at the Olympics, and when she was 31 years old, she broke into the World Championship finals.

For two years she was often asked "How can you keep playing?" Her answer is: "Because I enjoy playing badminton. Training makes me happy!"

It is extremely rare for any athlete to stay on top in her field at the age of 32, and even more so for a woman. After winning the gold at Athens, everyone thought she would retire. However, they were wrong. Because of her passion for not only badminton, but also her raw drive to never be second best, she chose to keep playing.

Zhang said: "When I won the gold at Athens, there were still four years left until the coming of Beijing Olympics in 2008. At that time, it was impossible for me to decide if I would keep playing. But now, I can say with confidence, I will be there. It is hard, but it is my goal. I will do my best in my daily training and play my best, and I will try to win each match."

Profile

Name: Zhang Ning

Gender: Female

Place of Birth: Liaoning Province

Date of Birth: May 19, 1975

Sports: Badminton

Career Highlights:

1994 - French Open Women's Singles Champion

1996 - Sweden Open Women's Singles Champion

1998 - Malaysia Open Women's Singles Champion, Asian Games Team Champion, Grand Prix Final Women's Singles Champion

2001 - Singapore Open – Women's Singles; Asian Championship Women's Singles Champion

2002 - Korea Open Women's Singles Champion

2003 - World Championship Women's Singles Champion

2004 - Uber Cup Champion Members

2004 - Athens Olympic Women's Singles Champion

(Source: sina.com.cn / Translated by Women of China)