The Olympics have ended, but sports fever in Shanghai continues with Chinese and American university student exchanges. On August 15, the 2024 China-US University Tennis Friendship Tournament kicked off at the Qizhong Tennis Center, the venue for the annual Rolex Shanghai Masters, with more than 20 students and coaches from the two countries.
The students are from famous American higher-education institutions, such as Dartmouth College and Boston University, and prestigious Chinese colleges including East China University of Science and Technology (ECUST) and Zhejiang University.
At the opening ceremony, Shen Haitao, Vice Chairman of ECUST Council, said he wished that via sports, a common language of the world, students will build a bridge of friendship, have a deeper understanding of each other, inject new impetus into the long-term development of bilateral relations, and work together to create a better world.
The American students and coaches said they were impressed by the performance of Chinese tennis players at the Paris Olympics, such as Zheng Qinwen and Zhang Zhizhen, the women's singles gold medal winner and a silver medal winner in mixed doubles, respectively, and were looking forward to competing with their Chinese peers.
Some of them are on their first visit to China. "I decided to take part in these competitions because I've never been to China," said Sophia Wax from Tufts University. "And I love to play tennis and I think it's so great that there's an opportunity for us to share our love for this sport with people from all over the world."
Matthew Benjamin Kandel from Williams College, majoring in Chinese and mathematics, said "It's my first time in Shanghai, I've heard it's one of the most modern cities in China, so I'm looking forward to exploring the city."
After the opening ceremony, players from both sides played a friendly exchange match, showing the vitality and enthusiasm of the younger generation and presenting a series of wonderful games to the audience.
On August 17, the Tournament Finals was held at the Xuhui Campus of ECUST. Tennis players from 16 universities in China and the United States gathered at ECUST to play passionately and ignite their summer passion!
Matthew Kandel from Williams College won the men's singles championship, and Zhang Qingyang from Shanghai University of Finance and Economics won the women's singles championship. Xi Zixuan from Zhejiang University and Gao Zhiyang from ECUST won the women's doubles championship. Wu Jia from Southwest University and Li Zefeng from Shanghai Jiaotong University won the men's doubles championship.
The competition lasted for three days and included six events: men's and women's teams, men's and women's singles, and men's and women's doubles. The men's and women's team champions had been decided earlier, the team from China won both by 2:1.
At the closing ceremony after the game, Yan Haifeng, vice president of ECUST, said that sports, a universal language in the world, would build a bridge of friendship between young people from China and the US, so that they could learn from each other and grow together in the competition.
The event, including group and individual competitions, is hosted by ECUST and Shanghai Juss Sports Development Group and aims to promote Sino-US exchanges and cooperation. Besides competitions, the American students and teachers will visit local landmarks and take part in cultural experiences to develop their knowledge of China.
It's also part of the city's efforts to implement the initiative raised by Chinese President Xi Jinping to invite 50,000 American students to China to enhance exchanges between the two countries.
