China in sports: 2021 booms, 2022 excites
III. Breakthroughs
Over the past year, breakthroughs have been made in many games related to the Olympics. Fan Duoyao became China's first sled athlete to qualify for the IBSF World Cup, and finished the qualifier in 59.535s on Nov 19. Hong Kong won its first Olympic gold after returning to China at the Tokyo Olympics on July 26 when fencing athlete Cheung Ka-long, 1.93 meters tall, defeated the 1.78-meter Italian Daniele Garozzo 15:11 to win the gold medal in the men's individual foil competition. This is the fourth Olympic medal in Hong Kong's history.
Moreover, other sports including snooker and auto racing have also saw many achievements. This year, two Chinese snooker players won two of snooker's Triple Crown events. Yan Bingtao defeated veteran John Higgins to clinch the Snooker Masters title on Jan 17, becoming the youngest Masters champion since Ronnie O'Sullivan won the event in 1995 at the age of 19. Zhao Xintong defeated Luca Brecel 10-5 to win the 2021 UK Championship in York on Dec 5.
Racing talent Zhou Guanyu has dashed into racing history as he became China's first-ever Formula 1 driver. The 22-year-old joined Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen as race driver for the 2022 season, and the Chinese talent will make his F1 debut as he lines up on the grid for next season's opener in Bahrain.
