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Hong Kong Rugby Sevens This Weekend

Friday, 28th March 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)

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The famous Hong Kong Rugby Sevens, a gluttonous weekend of rugby, take place this weekend. Fans get to watch 24 teams play 57 14-minute matches (that's seven-minute halves, for you mathematicians scratching your heads) over three days. New Zealand is the heavy favorite to win the final, kicking off at 6:20 p.m. Sunday.

Here are the Friday and Saturday fixtures for China, Hong Kong and Chinese Taipei:

Friday, March 28
4:30 Australia v Hong Kong
4:52 Kenya v China
6:20 New Zealand v Chinese Taipei

Saturday, March 29
10:30 Tonga v Hong Kong
10:52 Scotland v China
12:20 USA v Chinese Taipei
2:54 France v Hong Kong
3:16 Portugal v China
4:44 Tunisia v Chinese Taipei

(Sunday's match-ups depend on the first two days' results)

Tags: Hong Kong, rugby, Sevens

More Madness

Friday, 28th March 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)

The United States' NCAA Men's Basketball tournament is down to 16 teams, with more games being played this weekend; check out the updates to our March Madness sports bar listings, including several new locations in Beijing.

Tags: basketball, college, March Madness, sports bars

Should Yi Get Some Tattitude?

Friday, 28th March 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)

David Thorpe at ESPN.com suggested Milwaukee Bucks (NBA) rookie Yi Jianlian (易建联) should toughen up his image, taking cues from the Denver Nuggets' Marcus Camby.

Marcus Camby, a.k.a. miǎnzú
Marcus Camby, a.k.a. miǎnzú
Camby is a center with a slight build similar to Yi's, but he gets 13 rebounds per game compared to five for Yi. Thorpe attributes the gap to Yi's focus on shooting, and Camby's "attitude".

Camby is also covered with tattoos, including some Chinese characters. If Yi ever decides to get some body art, you can be pretty sure that his won't confound Chinese speakers the way that Camby's have.

Image: Hanzi Smatter

Tags: NBA, Yi Jianlian

Au Revoir

Friday, 28th March 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)

Ever since Hotpotgate, speculation has been swirling about the firing of Elizabeth Loisel, head coach of China's women's football (soccer) team. And over the past week, domestic media have published conflicting reports about whether she had been fired.

Now, the news that's appeared inevitable since the team's ninth-place finish in the Algarve Cup seems to finally be official: Loisel is out.

Shang Ruihua
Shang Ruihua
And it appears that over the past several days she was as confused as the Chinese sports media. An official from the China Football Association sent her an e-mail earlier this week saying that her services were no longer needed, but she could not immediately determine whether it was an actual official notification. After confirming it, she canceled her plans to return to Beijing this week.

Not surprisingly after the recent instability (seven coaches in four years), the Chinese Football Association is reportedly bringing in a veteran of the Chinese coaching world. Sixty-four-year-old Shang Ruihua (商瑞华) led China's women in the 1991 World Cup, and has been coaching the Zhejiang women's team since last year.

Loisel, former head coach of the French national team, was hired just five months ago. She followed the Swedish Marika Domanski-Lyfors as the team's second foreign coach. But it proved difficult for her to adjust to the Chinese system, where a powerful group of officials exercise great control over the coach and team.

Image: China Daily

Tags: football, Loisel, women's soccer