Guangdong's Liang Huixian claimed the gold medal in the women's individual sabre with a 15-9 victory over Shen Chen of PLA at the Chinese National Games on Wednesday. [Special coverage]
Liang's victory gave Guangdong its first-ever gold in women's sabre at the National Games. The 25-year-old built an 8-2 lead and never relinquished to win the final. Jiangsu's Yang Hengyu edged Chen Xiaodong of Shanghai 15-13 in the bronze medal match.
"I want to say to myself, you are awesome!" Liang said, "I did some homework on her skill and strategy, that's why I can put the match in my way from beginning to end."
"I think maybe I want this title too much. It put a lot of pressure upon myself and I lost my rhythm at the beginning of the match," said Chen, who participated at the Rio Olympics but failed to pass through the first round.
In men's epee, Shanghai pocketed its first gold after Zhang Chengjie beat defending champion Ma Quan of Liaoning 15-9. Fang Kaishen from Hong Kong took the bronze with a 15-13 win over Fujian's Lin Zongyi.
