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Yi Too?

Thursday, 3rd April 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (2)

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It looks like Yi will join Yao on the injured list. It's still not clear how long he'll be out, but the Milwaukee Bucks forward reportedly sprained his knee in the second quarter of Wednesday night's game against the Washington Wizards. It's Yi Jianlian's fourth injury of the season.

Meanwhile, rumors swirled in China about Yao's possible return to see some doctors in Beijing. Here's hoping they both get well in time to wear that red and yellow jersey—it would be terrible to see their Olympic dreams go up in a tangle of athletic tape and a cloud of Yunnan Baiyao.

Image: NBA.com

Tags: basketball, NBA, Yao Ming, Yi Jianlian

The Masters' China Play is Liang's Opportunity of a Lifetime

Thursday, 3rd April 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)

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Like so many sports, golf wants a big piece of China. And they can probably get it. The number of courses here has grown from one to 300 since 1984, and the pro scene is picking up steam. It's also easier to cultivate world-class players in an individual sport like golf than in, say, baseball or American football. Finding a Chinese star with the chops to play abroad, golf's answer to Yao Ming, would be key to the game's success here.

That's good news for Liang Wenchong of Guangdong province, one of three Asian players who received an invite to The 2008 Masters Tournament in Augusta, Georgia April 7-13. Liang is ranked 111th in the world; Thailand's Prayad Marksaeng is number 93; Jeev Milkha Singh is ranked 80th. These guys would not have been invited based on their performance alone. In addition to promoting general interest in the game in those three countries, their inclusion in golf's premier event will reap the more immediate reward of increased TV viewership for the event's Asia broadcasts.

The commercial motivation for Liang's invite is no secret. Augusta chairman Billy Payne told the UK Guardian: "They are outstanding representatives of their respective countries. This is also another component in our objective of growing the game of golf worldwide utilising the Masters brand. We think the interest in golf in each country will heighten when these players compete in the Masters." The tournament is being promoted in China with ads featuring Liang with Tiger Woods. The chance to see the kid from Guangdong tee off with Tiger is sure to get a lot of people here excited enough to watch the tournament.

Less excited about the decision is 44-year-old Scottish professional golfer Colin Montgomerie, who has not been invited. "There has been no call from Augusta and I am not expecting one," he said. "Now, if I were the only person in the country, à la China, I might get in. It is a strange way to make up a field for a Major championship—television rights. They are quite open about why."

At a rank of 75, Montgomerie wasn't good enough to get an automatic bid. Those go to the top 50 players in the world, and to players who meet one of several other criteria, such as winning the British Open. But Augusta also extends special invites at its own discretion, and Montgomerie feels robbed because he didn't get one of those.

Montgomerie's been written off as a whiner by some sports media. As for us here at China Sports Today, we will be tuning in to see what two guys can do next week: One's named Tiger and the other is Liang.

Image: Omega China Tour

Tags: golf, Liang Wenchong