Chinese Swimmer Fails Drug Test
Friday, 27th June 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (2)
Ouyang Kunpeng (Reuters)
China Sports Daily published statement from the Chinese Swimming Association, including the following:
"The swimmer Ouyang Kunpeng tested positive in an out-of-competition test on May 1. The Chinese Swimming Association decided to give him a life ban ... although we have done lots of work, this positive case still happened, which is a deep lesson for us. We are going to take a clear stand on anti-doping work and firmly crack down on any violations."
Ouyang had won several medals in international Asian competition and was one of China's best medal hopes in swimming. The Chinese team draws suspicion from the international swimming world, because of its quick ascent in the sport and its athletes' absence from most major international events. Before the 1998 FINA World Championships in Perth, Australia, four Chinese swimmers tested positive for the banned diuretic triamterene.
Tags: Chinese Swimming Association, doping, Feng Shangbao, Ouyang Kunpeng, swimming
How the NBA Draft Looks From China
Friday, 27th June 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
Memphis' Derrick Rose (r) was drafted first by the Chicago Bulls. (Image: ESPN)
The second off-season week was a big one in the NBA, and China, where basketball and the U.S. league are hugely popular, was watching. Hours before the draft began, Guangdong-born forward Yi Jianlian was traded to the New Jersey Nets in a deal that sends Richard Jefferson to Milwaukee.
The trade looks good for Yi—he never wanted to go to Milwaukee in the first place and though the official line was that he had settled in happily, rumor had it that the rookie never got very comfortable in Wisconsin. On the other end, the Nets' new general manager Kiki Vandeweghe has been a vocal Yi fan.
When he was drafted last year, Yi initially demanded a trade, citing the lack of a Chinese community in Milwaukee. The New Jersey Nets play in the shadow of New York City, and in two years, the team is scheduled to change its name and move into a new arena in Brooklyn. New York City as a whole is home to 374,321 Chinese-Americans and the Chinese population in Brooklyn alone is 100 times that of Milwaukee's. The Nets' new arena is an easy subway ride across the East River from a Chinatown that the city's government claims is the nation's biggest. There doesn't seem to be much for Yi to complain about this time around.
But Chinese NBA fans' interest extends beyond their countrymen. To get some answers about what the draft and the Team USA announcement mean here, China Sports Today caught up with Xia Song in Beijing. Xia Song is president of sports marketing firm Starway Sports, one-time agent to former NBA players Wang Zhizhi and Mengke Bateer, and a jack-of-all-trades veteran of the China basketball scene.
Xia Song (l) with retired NBA coach Del Harris
CST: Of this draft class, who do you think has good China marketing potential?
Xia: Because of the relationship between Memphis and China, Derrick Rose [number one pick from University of Memphis] can be big here right away. No doubt he is going to be a star. And he's going to the Chicago Bulls which was the team that lit up the way for the NBA into China 15-20 years ago.
Another kid in this lottery is Joe Alexander [Milwaukee Bucks, number eight pick from West Virginia University], who played in Beijing. I knew him back in '99 when he was 13. His team, the International School of Beijing, was invited by Nike to play in the Beijing High School league [sponsored by Nike]. He was not supposed to play because he was too young, but they made an exception for him.
Joe Alexander, selected eighth by the Bucks (Image: nbadraft.net)
Xia: As I remember, not bad. He was real smart and a real hard working kid.
CST: Given that he's going to a small market and now won't be playing with Yi, does that hurt his marketing prospects in China?
Xia: There's going to be an effect, but Milwaukee has become a popular team in China. Even without Yi, it's still going to be a popular team in China. And if they have a player with a connection to China, that player is going to get attention here.
CST: Without a lottery pick, what can the Houston Rockets do to improve the supporting cast around Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady?
Xia: I don't think there was a rookie who could really help them. I think the key is to find a player who really wants to play with them as a team to win a championship.
CST: Let's talk Olympics for a minute. Does the USA's selection of a smaller team improve China's chances against them? [China plays the United States in the first game of the Olympic tournament.]
Xia:All of the USA's opponents are going to take that advantage of that. I think the small lineup is better for China to play. In China's group, everybody has a chance to get to the second round. I don't think the USA has a clear advantage to win the gold.
CST: Can US players on the Olympic team up their China marketing value during the games?
Xia: No, not really. That's a USA team. If they want to build their image, people will watch their regular season and playoffs performances more than the Olympics.
Related:
Joe Alexander to Play With Yi?
Yi, Jay-Z and LeBron?
An NBA Draft Prospect out of China... Sort of
Tags: basketball, Chicago Bulls, Derrick Rose, Joe Alexander, marketing, Memphis, Milwaukee Bucks, New Jersey Nets, Team USA, Xia Song, Yi Jianlian
Links: China's Sports System
Friday, 27th June 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
As the Olympics draw near, criticisms of China's sports system are appearing in more media reports. Here are links to some of them, followed by brief excerpts:Reuters (UK): Interview – Soccer- China game hampered by lack of base
"For a couple years it looked like China might become a footballing power but, with hindsight, it's easy to say why that wasn't real, because there's no grassroots, there's no pyramid," he said. "Corruption became an issue... with referees getting large bundles of cash and then being replenished at halftime to make sure the second half went the same."
Times Online (UK): China grabs cut of star athlete Liu Xiang's gold
A picture of health, he is the smiling face of Coca-Cola, Nike and several domestic brands. But Liu's gross earnings, reputed to be £1.9m a year from advertising and sponsorship, are dwarfed by those of Yao Ming, the Chinese basketball star who plays in the United States and picked up £29.6m last year.
The reason is that Liu's commercial career is run by officials at China's Track and Field Association, which takes a percentage of his earnings to repay the state for its years of training.
New York Times: Chinese athletes pushed to the limit, and beyond, for Olympic gold
For nearly a decade, he has tried to quit canoeing, he told The New York Times during an interview at the training center. He said he would rather attend college or start a business, but acknowledged that he was ill-equipped to do either one.
New York Times: China Presses Injured Athletes in Quest for Gold
Many have trained for the Games despite serious injuries. A female weight lifter, Tang Gonghong, persevered until early this year despite having such high blood pressure that her chief coach said it "threatens her life at any moment."
Tags: sports schools, sports system
Lin and Xie Survive First-Round Scares in Thailand
Friday, 27th June 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
Lin Dan
In the three-game matches, Xie and Lin both took three games to defeat their opponents. Xie, the world's number one women's player, beat unseeded Julia Pei Xian Wong from Malaysia 21-17, 19-21, 21-19. The 55-minute match tied for the longest of the day. Lin, the top male player in the world, needed three games (21-11, 17-21, 21-14) to dispose of unseeded Thai player Vilailak Pakkawat.
The next matches went more smoothly for both of China's singles players. Lin has played twice since, beating Hsieh Yu Hsin of Chinese Taipei (21-18, 21-13) and Kozai Kazuteru of Japan (21-13, 21-12). Xie took out Yuswandari Aprillia of Indonesia, 21-10, 21-12.
The tournament runs through this Sunday.
Image: 98w.com.cn
Tags: badminton, Lin Dan, Xie Xingfang
Yi, Jay-Z and Lebron?
Friday, 27th June 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
Yi will finally get the big market and bigger Asian population that he wanted last year. He joins a Nets team that includes Devin Harris at point guard and Vince Carter at shooting guard. The trade will clear up some salary money for the much-rumored acquisition of Lebron James by the Nets in 2010. The Nets are owned by hip-hop mogul Jay-Z and scheduled to move to his native Brooklyn by the 2010-11 season.
Image: NBA.com
Tags: Joe Alexander, NBA, Yi Jianlian