BEIJING, July 21 (Xinhua) -- Li Xiangning, leading figure of the active Chinese women's singles skaters, told Xinhua here on Saturday that she's happy to skate pairs at the same time.
The 18-year-old national champion of women's singles, who finished in 22nd place in PyeongChang Olympic Games, watched the training of the national gymnastics team together with other 17 skaters Saturday morning as a part of the new squad's lesson to open the new Olympic circle.
Through learning, Li said, she was able to better carry out the combination of different movements and better improve the level of her action in pairs.
Li, who was named in the recently released national team roster not only as a singles but a pairs skater, took part in the national pairs team's massive training session last April in Sanya, South China to start her "double play" on both events.
"It's a new journey," she said. The Heilongjiang native were placed 14th in the 2017 world championships, which earned China a berth of women's singles to the Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea.
Facing the problem of distribution of time and energy, Li, who's been praised by a senior official of China's sports for her spirit of fighting and challenging herself, said most of her time and energy is now on pair skating and she has less time to practice in women's singles.
"But I still hope that I can do my best in the singles," she said.
As for her next goals and expectations, Li said: "I hope to have a better cooperation with my partner, to strive for some breakthroughs on international stage, and also, I want to try my best in women's singles."
