Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU) tennis team beat the University of Nottingham Ningbo China (UNNC) tennis team 7-5 in the final men's double to win the first prize of the first ‘Xipu’ Cup tennis game on April 16. 

XJTLU had competed with UNNC several times beforehand, while this was the first attempt for both teams to compete with Wenzhou-Kean University (WKU). These three teams showed both expectations and stress when interviewed in the welcoming party.

The game started at 9:10 a.m. on the 16th. It conducted integrating system. Four competition events were set, including men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles and mixed doubles.

Before the final men’s double, XJTLU won against UNNC one set of men’s single, the women’s single, and gained 23 scores in total. UNNC gained 21 scores. The scores were almost even. WKU gained 17 scores and lost the chance to compete for the first prize. Finally, after a series of deuce in the final men’s double, XJTLU welcomed a thrilling 7-5 victory. ‘I feel really thankful to my teammates. Thank them for having done such an excellent job in this match, especially the final one. That was really hard and exciting,’ said Letian Zhang, the team leader of XJTLU tennis team.

‘We didn’t do well in this game, but we have seen much space to improve through the competition and communication with the other two teams,’ said the team leader of WKU. ‘They (XJTLU and UNNC) are both great teams. We can learn a lot from them’

‘Although we didn’t win the game, friendship established based on it is far more meaningful than the game result,’ said the team leader of UNNC. He also presented the UNNC school badge as souvenir to XJTLU students after the match.

The ‘Xipu’ Cup international sport tournament was hosted by XJTLU Students Union and PEC Office. Besides tennis, it also involved other sports events, including basketball, football and badminton. This event turns out to have provided a platform for the communication between universities, and strengthened the friendship among them at the same time.