Chinese Olympic hopeful Xu wins second national rowing title

Xu Dongxiang, gold medalist at the 2006 World Rowing Championships, crowned her second title at the 2008 Spring China National Rowing Championships on Sunday, giving a strong boost to her morale in the run-up to the Beijing Olympic Games.

Xu of Zhejiang won the lightweight women's single sculls in 7 minutes 52.08 seconds, just 0.3 seconds ahead of second finisher Chen Haixia of Guangdong. Yu Hua of Beijing finished third by covering the 2km course in 8 minutes 0.65 seconds. The three are all from China's national rowing team.

Xu, 25, won the 8km lightweight women's single sculls on Thursday, the first day of the 4-day competition held in Hangzhou, eastern China's Zhejiang province.

"My back ached, so I didn't have a good start today," Xu said, "Chen led me by as many as 5 meters in the first 1,500 meters."

"I'm becoming more and more mature with all the races. Now I can still keep cool-minded even when I'm left behind by others," she said. (Xinhua)