Olympic title just the first step for Li
Young Chinese star has ambitions of adding to the success she enjoyed at the London Games
For many athletes, winning an Olympic gold medal may be the mountain climbed, but Chinese badminton star Li Xuerui believes she is still in the foothills.
The 21-year-old left no one in any doubt who is the best player in the world when routing reigning world champion and teammate Wang Yihan in the final at the London Olympics.
A year ago, Li was a fringe player on the star-studded China national team with a ranking outside the world's top 10. The youngster from Chongqing was not even in the Olympic reckoning until a month before the Games when she was surprisingly chosen ahead of Wang Shixian as the third member of the squad.
"It is a big honour to win an Olympic gold medal," said Li who, at the Olympic Council of Asia meeting in Macau 10 days ago, was recognised as one of the 10 best Asian women athletes at the London Games.
"But the London Olympics is definitely not the end of my career," added Li, who will be making her Hong Kong Open debut at the Coliseum in Hung Hom this week. "I am still young with a lot of room for improvement. There are many big tournaments I haven't yet had the chance to take part in, like the world championships, the Sudirman Cup and the Asian Games.
"I still have big expectations and want to conquer these major events. Winning the title in London has added more pressure because I cannot lose a match cheaply as the Olympic champion. I will turn this pressure into impetus to push me to work harder."