Lee Lai-shan is hoping to revive her rivalry with good friend Barbara Kendall at this week's Sail Auckland. The regatta, which starts tomorrow, has been a regular event on the calendar of the two former Olympic champions - Kendall won gold for New Zealand at the 1992 Games, while San San was Olympic champion in in 1996 - but they missed it last year as it clashed with the World Championship in Argentina.
San San, who trained in Taiwan during the Chinese New Year holidays, said: 'I hope Barbara will be competing this week as it'll give me a chance to see if my hard work over the past few weeks has paid off.'
The last time San San and Kendall met - at the Sydney Olympic Games - it was the New Zealander who won their private battle: Kendall won bronze, while San San finished a disappointing sixth.
San San hopes to make amends this week. She said: 'The wind in Taiwan was as strong as 40 knots every day I was there and my skills under strong winds have improved a lot. You have to overcome a psychological barrier as it is a little scary for windsurfers to drive the board into winds of such magnitude. I know there will be both strong and light winds in Auckland. I just want to make use of all I've learned in Taiwan.'
San San is using the Sail Auckland regatta as a tuneup for November's All-China Games, her main target of the year. Hong Kong's Olympic champion plans to retire from competition after that.
