The 2024 China Open tennis tournament concluded in Beijing on Sunday, with Coco Gauff from the U.S. claiming the title with a lopsided 6-1, 6-3 victory over Czech player Karolina Muchova in the final.
The tournament, which ran from September 23 to October 6 at the National Tennis Center in Beijing, saw attendance of 380 players from 48 countries and regions, who performed a total of 469 matches, exceeding the previous edition of China Open. "As of October 5, around 140,000 Chinese tennis fans and more than 13,000 foreigners have come to Beijing to watch the games. This year's total box office revenue has exceeded 80 million yuan (about 1.14 million U.S. dollars), up 60 percent year on year to a record high for China Open ticket sales," said Chen Jie, deputy director of Beijing Municipal Bureau of Sports at a press conference on Sunday.
Chinese athletes shined at this year's tournament. Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen made it to the women's singles semifinal, tying the best record of Chinese female players at the China Open jointly held by Li Na and Wang Qiang.
Meanwhile, 35-year-old veteran Zhang Shuai reached women's singles quarterfinals following a four-match winning streak.
Buyunchaokete, a rising star in Chinese men's tennis, made history at the tournament, upsetting top players to reach the semifinals.
China Open tennis tournament concludes in Beijing
China Open tennis tournament concludes in Beijing
An official from a United Nations (UN) humanitarian agency emphasized on Sunday that there is a long way to go to rebuild Gaza physically, mentally, and culturally after the conflict.
Georgios Petropoulos, head of the Sub-office in Gaza for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said that reconstruction of Gazan society will take far more than erecting new buildings.
"It's a mathematical equation of time and money, as it usually is. But to rebuild a society and an economy and a culture, that takes a little bit longer, as we all know. And the rebuilding is not just the physical aspects of schools, hospitals, universities and and homes, but it's to rebuild and to plan for and to repair the damage that's going to be done to children that may be out of school for almost two years, to families that have been completely decimated, they had loved ones killed. An agricultural system which used to be lively, which is on its knees, fisheries that are destroyed, unemployment that is almost complete now, you know you have to understand that at this point we don't even have the ability to bring cash into Gaza. So whatever you have can't really move around in the market," he said.
"Thousands of children will not be able to rebuild their lives because they don't have any legs or arms. They've been blown off there. They're the most significant and tragic victims of this war," the UN official added.
Although the UN is working on an early recovery plan, a ceasefire -- which is essential for Gaza's reconstruction -- must first be achieved, Petropoulos said.
"So rebuilding Gaza, I think, is an easy question with a very complicated answer. I can tell you that the United Nations and partners, as we do, are already working with donors in member states on an early recovery plan and the development process. But that's all going to have to be in the air until we understand exactly what the intentions and the political will is around not just a ceasefire, but stopping the daily tragedy of the people in Gaza and seeing how long it's going to take for them to stop being under fire, and how long it's going to take for the hostages to be sent back to their families. They have now also spent a year waiting with no word for hundreds of people that should be in the safe arms of their family," he said.
"So until those two things come to play, we're not going to have an answer of how long it's going to take to rebuild Gaza. And I think the last thing that I'll say on that is that my hope, and our hope is that whatever that rebuilding takes, the planning includes the people of Gaza -- how they want to see their land look and how they want it to be run, and what they want their future to look like," Petropoulos continued.
Long way to go to rebuild society Gaza after conflict: UN official
Long way to go to rebuild society Gaza after conflict: UN official
