by Henry Chen

The eighth round of the Women’s Chinese Super League concluded on Wednesday 9th November with a home defeat from the Anxin.

Definitely they had the backing they needed against Shandong Luneng. However, Liu Shiwen and company were not able to utilise such advantage and eventually failed to deliver favourable results for their crowd.

The team posted their second defeat this season. They lost three-one.

Liu Shiwen was clearly not in her optimum condition. She was troubled in the second match against Gu Ruochen. Liu Shiwen had to go through a full-stretch duel before achieving a three-two.

However, in the fourth match, where she needed to save the team from defeat, Liu Shiwen, this time, failed to succeed.

She lost to Zhu Yuling in an emphatic manner. Liu Shiwen said that her defeat had a connection with her physical and competitive state. Anxin’s coach, Rao Jingwen, also agreed to such point.

“Liu Shiwen can not keep up as of now mainly because of her physical fitness and competitive state. This gives some opportunities to young players, giving them much more space”, Rao Jingwen

Because of Liu Shiwen’s defeat, Zhu Yuling secured the winning point for Shandong Luneng. Of course, she was happy about her performance.

“First of all, I am more relaxed. If there is no burden, then you will not feel tired. I was relatively happy and was in a good state. I think all of these benefited my performance.” Zhu Yuling

Shandong Luneng, through that round, was able draw level with Anxin. Both teams now are in the second place with six wins and two losses.