Women's Soccer in AFC Final
Friday, 6th June 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
Under new coach Shang Ruihua, China's women's soccer (football) team has played its way into an opportunity to defend the AFC (Asian Football Confederation) Women's Asian Cup. The "Steel Roses" came back from a 1-0 start yesterday to beat Japan, 3-1. Wang Dandan came off the bench to score two goals in six minutes, and Han Duan scored the team's third goal.China will face North Korea Sunday in the final in Ho Chi Minh City. China has won eight of the last 10 AFC Cups since 1986.
Wang Dandan gets some love from her teammates.
Image: Yahoo! Sports
Tags: football, Han Duan, national team, Shang Ruihua, soccer, Wang Dandan
A Shot Across the Bow
Friday, 6th June 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
Far from a traditional rowing power, China is shaking up the ranks in this sport. Improving its rowing team is an important of China's effort to top the medal standings at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, since the sport offers 14 gold medals.Behind the leadership of former Soviet coach Igor Grinko, China has gone from a team that won four Olympic medals between 1932 and 2004, to a serious threat at this year's games. At a World Cup regatta in Lucerne, Switzerland, last weekend, China won five golds out of the 14 events, and took seven total medals home.
In this New York Times blog entry, Juliet Macur quotes Grinko addressing the belief commonly held among the Chinese themselves that the Chinese body is just not powerful enough to excel at certain sports: "Before, they were thinking that a Chinese man's body is not made for rowing, that the back wasn't strong enough. But now? They are strong and fit. Now they can see gold medals."
Also from the New York Times, this story takes a good long look at why and how China has built up its rowing program.
Tags: Igor Grinko, national team, Olympics, rowing
Team USA Basketball Coming to China
Friday, 6th June 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
In other basketball news, it's been announced that the USA Men's National Team will play exhibition games in Macao and Shanghai in the weeks before the Olympics. The team's final roster will be selected from among the 33 players currently on the team on July 29.Here is the schedule for the 2008 USA Basketball International Challenge:
July 31, 8:00 p.m.
Cotai Strip Cotai Arena, Venetian Macao Resort Hotel, Macao
USA v. Lithuania
August 1, 8:00 p.m.
Cotai Strip Cotai Arena, Venetian Macao Resort Hotel, Macao
Lithuania v. Turkey
August 2, 8:00 p.m.
Cotai Strip Cotai Arena, Venetian Macao Resort Hotel, Macao
USA v. Russia
August 3, 3:00 p.m.
Qizhong Arena, Shanghai
USA v. Australia
August 5, 8:00 p.m.
Qizhong Arena, Shanghai
The Macao venue seats 11,572 and the Shanghai one 13,708.
Ticketing
To purchase tickets for the Macao games, go to venetianmacaotickets.com or call in China (852) 6333-6660 or (853) 2882-8818. Tickets are also available at the Cotai Strip Cotai Arena Box Office or the Sands Theater Box office.
For the Shanghai games, you can purchase tickets at Emma Ticketmaster.
Image: Emma Ticketmaster
Tags: Australia, basketball, Cotai Strip Cotai Arena, Lithuania, Macao, NBA, Qizhong Arena, Russia, Turkey, Venetian Macao Resort Hotel
NBA is Back
Friday, 6th June 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
After an unexplained suspension, NBA broadcasts are back in mainland China, with Game 1 of the NBA Finals airing on this morning on CCTV Sports. Several times during the game, the NBA ran a message of support for earthquake victims featuring NBA stars Dwayne Wade, Trace Mcgrady, Chris Paul, Baron Davis, Lebron James and commissioner David Stern.A China Sports Today editor spent the last week deep in the Chinese basketball world and never heard a definitive reason for why the conference finals didn't air. However, most people seemed to agree that a vague statement from an unnamed NBA official supporting players' decisions to be active on social issues drew Beijing's ire. The confusing move makes one thing clear: Even the mighty NBA, which has done so well in China, exists here because the government allows it to.
Tags: basketball, CCTV, David Stern, NBA, television