Glowing from her newly won Beijing bronze yesterday, Chinese doubles ace¹ Zheng Jie said it was the "Sichuan spirit" in the wake of the May 12 quake that fueled her to her podium finish in what she called the most important tournament of her life.

"People always ask me what kind of message I want to deliver to the people who suffered from the quake," said Zheng, who teamed with Yan Zi to beat Ukraine's Alona and Kateryna Bondarenko 6-2, 6-2.

"The Sichuan people sent us more messages because during the disaster, they were so brave, they were positive, they never gave up. I am proud to be someone from Sichuan.

"During the Olympic Games, we fought really hard and we want to show this Sichuan spirit, that we are brave."

Chinese sports authorities have implored² all their athletes to play with the same Sichuan spirit, said China's deputy Chef de Mission Cui Dalin, who believes the never-say-die attitude of the residents of the quake-hit area can boost his athletes' winning desire.

Zheng turns out to be a perfect example.

She needed nearly three hours to overcome an early deficit³ to oust⁴ world No 15 Agnes Szavay 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 in the first round, and then rallied to beat Nuria Llagostera Vives of Spain 6-7 (7), 6-1, 6-4 just 15 hours later.

Her epic⁵ doubles victory over Svetlana Kuznetzova and Dinara Safina in the quarterfinals, which ended at 3:50 am on Saturday, was also a performance of heroic proportions.

Zheng said the Sichuan spirit will encourage her for the rest of her career.

"My home people will be with me forever," she said.

"The spirit will be my motivation throughout my career, I will never forget about it.