YP cadets Diva Saha and Nitika Chandiramani search for China's finest athletes. These men and women excel in their field and are quite a treat for the eyes, too!
Photo: AFPSun Yang
Sun Yang, is an Olympic and world champion swimmer. He won gold and silver at the 2010 Asia Games and two golds, a silver and a bronze in the 2012 Olympics, where he set a world record in the 1500m freestyle. Sun was also the first Chinese man to ever win an Olympic gold medal in the 400m category.
Lin Dan
Lin Dan, or "Super Dan", is a professional badminton player who is considered to be the greatest singles player of all time. He is a five-time All England champion, a two-time Olympic champion and by the age of 28 he had completed the Super Grand Slam, winning all nine major titles. Lin Dan also boasts the title of the first men’s singles player to win the Olympic gold medal in both 2008 and 2012.
Qin Kai
Diver Qin Kai first found success in 2001 at the World Junior Championships where he won the gold medal on the three-metre springboard and silver on the platform. Qin Kai first found success in 2001 at the World Junior Championships where he won the gold medal on the three-metre springboard and silver on the platform. Then, at the 2006 World Championships he took home gold on both the springboard and the synchronised springboard. He saw further success in the same categories at the 2008 Olympic, becoming the synchronised champion and claiming bronze as a solo competitor
Zheng Jie
Zheng Jie is considered to be one of the top tennis players in China, having been ranked world no.15 in 2009. She has won four WTA singles titles and 15 doubles titles. She also found success at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, 2008 Wimbledon Championships and the 2010 Australian Open. Though she is currently ranked at no.91 in the singles category, she is at no.28 for doubles.
Pan Xiaoting
Pan Xiaoting, or “Queen of the nine-ball” as she is known in China, is the first Chinese woman to play full-time on the Women's Professional Billiard Association tour. Pan began playing pool at the age of 16 with her father, and kicked off her career by winning the 35th World Women 9-ball Open in Japan. Since then, Pan has won several awards, including gold at the 16th Asia Games.
Su Bingtian
Sprinter Su Bingtian is known as the only Chinese athlete ever to have run 100m in under 10 seconds. He won gold at both the Pune and Kobe Asian Championships for 100m. He also came first at the Asian Games held in Guangzhou in 2010 for the 4 x 100m relay and again in the 2009 Asian Indoor Games held in Hanoi.