 ??????? GRAND Slam semifinalist Li Na led China to its first Asian Games women’s tennis team gold with a crushing victory over defending champion Chinese Taipei yesterday. ????Peng Shuai saw off Chang Kai-chen 6-3, 7-5 before world No. 11 Li overpowered Chan Yung-jan 6-1, 6-1 to secure the title. ????Peng, the world No. 76, carved out a break in the sixth game of the first set and nipped ahead again in the opening game of the second. ????Chang twice needed treatment to a left knee injury, but gamely fought on before her resistance wilted with a lazy, long forehand in the 12th game. ????Li, almost 100 places ahead of Chan in the WTA rankings, eased past the Chinese Taipei player to make sure of the gold with breaks in the first and fifth games of the opening set. ????That dominance, illustrated by Li’s 37 winners in the match to Chan’s 17, continued in the second set with breaks in the second and sixth games. ????Li is not competing in the singles tournament, which starts today. ????“At the last Asian Games in Doha in 2006 we lost in the quarterfinals to Uzbekistan, so this time we were fully prepared,” said Li, a semifinalist at the Australian Open and quarterfinalist at Wimbledon. ????The Taiwanese men soon made amends, shrugging off the absence of injured Wimbledon quarterfinalist Lu Yen-hsun to beat Uzbekistan 2-1 for the team title. Chen Ti gave Chinese Taipei a flying start with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Murad Inoyatov before world No. 40 Denis Istomin pulled Uzbekistan level with a comfortable 6-4, 6-0 victory over Yang Tsung-ha. ????Yang and Yi Chu-huan then defeated Istomin and Inoyatov 6-3, 6-4 in the deciding doubles. ????(SD-Agencies) | 