It is no secret, the Chinese government has set very high goals for the 2008 Beijing Olympics and to do so, it has determined the specific sports where it has a legitimate shot at winning medals. Ladies tennis is one of those sports. The doubles is an obvious opportunity but they have also expressed belief in the possibility of winning a medal in singles as well.What better way to gain international experience than to play Fed Cup competition. And with China in the world group and up against Italy (the defending champs but a beatable team), it was expected that China would have a good shot of making it to the second round. And without looking too far ahead, with powerhouses Belgium, USA and Russia all on the other side of the draw, a final was certainly a possibility.So when I went to see the lineups of all teams in order to make my predictions for Todd's WTA Backspin column, I was very surprised to see both of China's top players not in the lineup. What had happened? News came out today that China has misunderstood a rule about eligibility requirements for the upcoming Olympics... "We did what we could," an ITF spokesman said on Wednesday. "It appeared they'd made a decision based on a misunderstanding of the rules. We advised them because we think it's important that the Fed Cup has the strongest teams possible."
"They sacrificed the Fed Cup for the Olympics and we said they didn't need to," he added. "It's a real shame."Incredible isn't it? I mean how could they possibly miss this one?....
# posted by Pierre : 8:14 PM
