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Faster, Higher, Stronger | Tokyo 2020: China’s women putting the men to shame

  • Despite loss to Rose Namajunas, Zhang Weili shows that women are leading the way in UFC while Olympic sports are no different
  • Women’s teams have qualified for Tokyo 2020 where men’s teams have struggled and social media users have asked why

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China's women’s football team celebrate qualifying for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games after beating South Korea. Photo: AFP

The last week was not a great one for Chinese sport on the international stage.

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UFC strawweight champion Zhang Weili lost to Rose Namajunas in the most dramatic fashion at UFC 261 in Florida.
The other three Chinese fighters on the card, all graduates of the China Academy based out of the UFC’s Shanghai Performance Centre, each lost their debut fights too.

Some Chinese fans turned on Zhang after her first round loss, with complaints that they had paid six yuan (US$0.93) to watch.

Rose Namajunas celebrates after beating Zhang Weili for the strawweight title at UFC 261. Photo: AFP
Rose Namajunas celebrates after beating Zhang Weili for the strawweight title at UFC 261. Photo: AFP
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It also appears that Chinese footballer Wu Lei will cut short his stint in Spain with Espanyol.

Aside from watching from the stands as an unused substitute in the second tier, China’s star player will need to leave in the coming days to pass quarantine ahead of his country’s upcoming Fifa 2022 World Cup qualifiers.

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