Sports
16:57, 26-Sep-2018
Tennis players' date with giant pandas in Chengdu
Updated
16:22, 29-Sep-2018
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China is worldly renowned for its adorable giant pandas and a slew of tennis players, who are taking part in the ATP Chengdu Open in Sichuan Province, didn't miss the opportunity to visit Chengdu's panda research base.
Chung Hyeon from South Korea and Italy's top-seed Fabio Fognini visited the place together where China's iconic panda-breeding program has been conducted for many years. The research base is globally known for its efforts to increase the previously dwindling panda population.
This was the first visit for both the Italian world number 13 and his fellow Korean tennis player, ranked world number 23, as they got up, close and personal with the unique animals.
Fabio Fognini tweets his arrival in Chengdu with a photo showing him in front of his giant poster image during the ATP Chengdu Open. /Screenshot from Twitter
Fabio Fognini tweets his arrival in Chengdu with a photo showing him in front of his giant poster image during the ATP Chengdu Open. /Screenshot from Twitter
A visibly happy Fognini said, "First time I have seen the pandas and it was a great fun. They are really different."
"I have played a great year so far. I am really happy to be back in China and it's a great feeling," Hyeon remarked.