Preparations almost concluded the final touches being applied Guimaraes the city in Portugal is ready for the European Olympic Singles Qualifications. Multiusos de Guimarães is the venue for the tournament to be held from 21st to 25th April.
Portugal men team already secured their place at the Olympics through the Team’s Qualifications held in January in 2020 in another Portugal’s city in Gondomar. Now the spotlight of the home nation will be on SHAO Jieni. She competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in the women’s singles event in which she was eliminated in the second round. Jieni was also the member of the Portugal’s team which won the silver medal at the European Championships in Nantes.
SHAO Jieni returned to Portugal a week ago. Portugal’s player stayed in China during the quarantine time in Europe between March 2020 and April 2021 and now she practice in the Portuguese High Performance Training Center.
SHAO is looking forward to her second consecutive presence at the Olympic Games:
“I’ve been practising with the aim of the Olympics. Although I had to face some restrictions in my training schedule due to the pandemic situation I kept focused on my goal. I’ll be at my best at the European Olympic Singles Qualification.”
The Portuguese National Team coach XIE Juan explained “Shao Jieni can achieve the Olympic Qualification if she plays at her top level. We’ve been practicing with top level athletes and everything is going as planed. I believe she can achieve the qualification.”
