Nanjing Youth Olympics: China's Dou Zecheng aiming for gold in golf

Dou Zecheng

Nanjing (China), Aug 17 (IANS): Chinese golfer Dou Zecheng is hoping for the biggest win of his life at the second Youth Olympics in Nanjing.

The 17-year-old, hailing from central China's Henan province, is the top-ranked Chinese amateur golfer in the World Amateur Golf Rankings, at No. 39, reports Xinhua.

Dou even had a starring role in Saturday night's opening ceremony. He was one of eight Youth Olympic Games' athlete representatives who received the Olympic flag from the eight Chinese flag bearers who marched it into the stadium.

The teenager's story began when he took up the sport when at the age of six. Dou, whose nickname is ‘Marty’, said: "At the very beginning I played it for fun with my dad, and I always love it. I began to focus on training and competing a few years ago. Now I'm in the second grade at high school. I spend much of my spare time playing golf."

He plans to go to university aboard when he finishes school. After that he would like to become a professional golfer.

The high school student is well on his way too, after winning the 2014 PGA tour China Buick Open and finishing second in the 2013 Nomura Cup.

He has competed in both China and the US, but feels very patriotic about competing at Nanjing 2014. So much so that he decided to miss a major competition in July to focus on winning the gold medal.

"I'm the only golf player representing China. It's my great honour and pleasure to be here. I feel the pressure but I can handle it. My goal is to win the Games," he said with confidence.

The golf competition gets underway on Tuesday.