Chinese young paddler Xu eyes on Rio Olympics

 Chinese young paddler Xu eyes on Rio Olympics SUZHOU, East China, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Just back home from London two weeks ago, one of China's most hopeful paddlers Xu Xin has set his eyes on the next Olympic Games in Rio four years later.

"Having stayed at the Olympic Athletes' Village and been training every day alongside with my teammates gave me mixed feelings," said the 22-year-old, a substitute of China's Olympic squad¹ for men's table tennis team event in London.

"I've played a supporting role, which made me even more longing² for a real competition in Rio 2016 as a true Olympian," he added.

World No. 3 Xu, regarded as one of the core players to lead China's next generation of men's table tennis, was seeded first at the China Open while the whole squad of China's Olympic gold-winning team is absent. He won straight matches in his first two rounds at the ITTF ProTour China Open.

He ousted³ South Korean youngster Cho Eon-rae 11-7, 9-11, 11-5, 11-7, 11-5 earlier on Friday before easing past another South Korean Kim Min-seok 11-5, 12-10, 12-10, 11-8 to make the men's singles quarterfinals in the evening.

The Shanghai paddler, who was born in Jiangsu province, said that his experience in London is more like a stimulation⁴ than a consolation⁵.

"For the Olympians Zhang Jike, Wang Hao and Ma Long, staying in London Olympic Athletes' Village is a life-time memory," he said. "But for me, it was just a well guarded lodgment."

Xu declined to take home any mascot⁶ or other special designed souvenir for London Olympic Games since it "does not feel MY PLACE", but has decided⁷ to fight his way to Rio 2016 and to make it his own stage.

The 330,000 U.S. dollars China Open in Suzhou was Xu's first tournament after London 2012, and he also decided to make victory here as his first step en route to Rio 2016.

"I've heard that Dimitrij Ovtcharov said I was the favorite to win the men's singles title here at China Open," Xu said with a smile. "But my plan is just to win one match after another before winning the final."

Besides the singles, Xu also plays the men's doubles with the 34-year-old former world champion Wang Liqin, who advanced to the semifinals Friday afternoon after straight wins as the second seed.

It has been the fourth China Open held in Suzhou in four straight years, as all men's and women's singles titles in the previous tournaments have been collected by Chinese paddlers.

1 squad   

n.班，小队，小团体；vt.把…编成班或小组

参考例句：

• The squad leader ordered the men to mark time.班长命令战士们原地踏步。
• A squad is the smallest unit in an army.班是军队的最小构成单位。

2 longing   

n.（for）渴望

参考例句：

• Hearing the tune again sent waves of longing through her.再次听到那首曲子使她胸中充满了渴望。
• His heart burned with longing for revenge.他心中燃烧着急欲复仇的怒火。

3 ousted   

驱逐( oust的过去式和过去分词 )； 革职； 罢黜； 剥夺

参考例句：

• He was ousted as chairman. 他的主席职务被革除了。
• He may be ousted by a military takeover. 他可能在一场军事接管中被赶下台。

4 stimulation   

n.刺激，激励，鼓舞

参考例句：

• The playgroup provides plenty of stimulation for the children.幼儿游戏组给孩子很多启发。
• You don't get any intellectual stimulation in this job.你不能从这份工作中获得任何智力启发。

5 consolation   

n.安慰，慰问

参考例句：

• The children were a great consolation to me at that time.那时孩子们成了我的莫大安慰。
• This news was of little consolation to us.这个消息对我们来说没有什么安慰。

6 mascot   

n.福神，吉祥的东西

参考例句：

• The football team's mascot is a goat.足球队的吉祥物是山羊。
• We had a panda as our mascot.我们把熊猫作为吉详物。

7 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。