Wu Yibing hits a return in the final of the Dallas Open on February 12, 2023. Photo: VCG
During the weekend, Chinese tennis player Wu Yibing, esports gamer Li Oliveira Peinan and short track speed skater Lin Xiaojun claimed three major wins for China. Wu and Li's victories were new records in Chinese sports history. Chinese gamer Li Peinan celebrates winning the championship at StarCraft 2 of the IEM Katowice 2023 on February 12, 2023 in Katowice, Poland. Photo: VCG Chinese skater Lin Xiaojun competes in the men's 500 meters event at the ISU Short Track Speed Skating World Cup in Dordrecht, the Netherlands on February 12, 2023. Photo: VCG
Making history
On Sunday, Wu, a 23-year-old tennis player from Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang Province, defeated former world No.8 John Isner of the US at the Dallas Open in Dallas, the US, to become the first man from China to hold an ATP Tour title.
During the match, Wu saved four match points while tackling Isner's fierce serves. During the near three-hour match, Wu secured his gold medal with a score of 6-7 (4/7), 7-6 (7/3) and 7-6 (14/12). After the victory, his world ranking rose to No.58 on Monday, making him the highest-ranking Chinese player in ATP history.
Wu made history for Chinese tennis.
Before him, no Chinese player has ever won an ATP title. The closest was Chinese player Pan Bing, who reached the semifinals at the Seoul Open in South Korea in 1995.
During his after-match speech, Wu expressed his gratitude to audiences.
"Please continue looking forward to Chinese men's tennis. We'll continue to offer great performances," he said in Chinese.
Luo Le, a sports critic in Beijing, told the Global Times that Wu's success was "epoch making" and shows the potential of Chinese men's tennis, which once struggled to achieve glory.
"Tennis was alien to China a long time ago. Then we saw good female players emerge like Li Na. Now finally, we can see the rise of men's tennis in China," Luo told the Global Times.
In total, Wu set two records at the Dallas Open. On Saturday, he became the first Chinese athlete to make it into the final of an ATP event after a come-from-behind win against US top seed Taylor Fritz.
"When I played today I wasn't thinking about the score or winning, I just tried to perform my best," the player said during an on-court interview, adding that he was "proud of himself."
Wu's record-breaking success is now a trending topic on China's Twitter-like Sina Weibo.
Tennis fan Zhu Xuqi told the Global Times that the success shows that Wu is able to live up to his reputation.
The athlete noted that he is looking forward to the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, which were pushed to September due to pandemic delays.
"Because I'm a Hangzhou boy, I want to win a gold at home," Wu told media after his victory.
Xue Mingfei, a sport insider told the Global Times that Chinese Gen Z athletes like Wu can change how the world sees Chinese sports, especially sports that were once "Western dominated."
While Wu was winning for China in the US, 20-year-old Chinese StarCraft 2 Terran player Li "Oliveira" Peinan won China's first-ever gold in the game on Sunday during the Grand Finals of the IEM Katowice with a 4-1 win over South Korean player Cho "Maru" Seong-ju.
Despite experts saying he only had a 0.37 percent chance to win, Li became the first-ever Chinese player to clinch gold at the competition.
His success has upturned the StarCraft world, which is usually dominated by players from South Korea and Western countries. Esports insider Shu Xin said, "one Chinese player beating the world's biggest competitor South Korea was true winning."
"Nothing is impossible," Li said afterward. The 20-year-old is known for his 24-hour training sessions.
"Resilience and dedication are the spirit of sports. They apply to all areas of sports," Xue noted, adding that players like Li could be China's top seed if esports makes it to the Olympic Games.
On Sunday, prior to the two golds, South Korea-born Chinese short track speed skater Lin Xiaojun also bagged a gold medal in the men's 500 meters for Team China at the 2022-23 ISU Short Track Speed Skating World Cup in Dordrecht, the Netherlands.
After crossing the finish line with a time of 40.693 seconds, Lin shouted and even cried while accepting the prize, letting his emotions out to the fullest.
Chinese netizens congratulated Lin and Team China for their stunning achievements.
The sports insider Xue told the Global Times that he is optimistic about Lin's performance at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
"He is now in his prime, and I foresee him winning an Olympic gold for China," said Xue.
Lin publicly expressed his position on social media for the first time in January 2022 after joining Team China, saying, "It has been 11 months since I came to China, and people have a warm heart.
"I like China and I will continue to live in China in the future," he said.
"It is only the beginning of 2023. There is much more to look forward to from Chinese athletes for the rest of the year," a netizen posted on Sina Weibo.
