Around the Web: A basketball MVP, a tennis upset, and an unpopular proposal for soccer
Yesterday ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
Mengke Bateer who, unbeknownst to many a casual fan, was the first Chinese player to win an NBA championship, was selected as this season's MVP for the Chinese Basketball Association. The big guy averaged 13.8 points, 9.6 rebounds, 4 assists and 1.2 blocks per game. It looks to me like this is a chance to honor one of China's most historically important players who will probably retire soon (Bateer is 35) than it does like a recognition of a stellar 2009-10 season. Bateer's Xinjiang Guanghui are in second place in league standings, with league playoffs starting next Wednesday. All-Star Weekend is March 20-21 at Wukesong Arena in Beijing.China's Zheng Jie (seeded 18th) beat Maria Sharapova (seeded 10th) at the BNP Paribas Open, 6-2, 2-6, 6-3. Sharapova was battling injuries in the match at Indian Wells.
Wei Di, the new chief of the Chinese Football Association, has introduced the apparently unpopular idea of entering China's under-21 national team as the 17th side in the Chinese Soccer League, to give those young players more time playing together. He hopes the plan will help him reach his self-imposed goal of qualifying a team for the FIFA World Cup in 2014, without dismantling the centrally planned football development system. The CSL begins play next week.
Gold medal-winning speed skater Zhou Yang angered some sports officials when she thanked her real mother and not Mother China (Reuters). David Yang at China Sports Review argues that the state has a point.
Tags: basketball, CBA, football, Mengke Bateer, soccer, tennis, Wei Di, Zheng Jie
An all-China Australian Open final? Making history and a case for reform
Thursday, 28th January 2010 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (1)
Li Na
Li Na and Zheng Jie were two players who took up the Chinese Tennis Association on an offer in 2008 (after the Olympics) to take greater control of their training and keep more of their prize money. The tradeoff was giving up some of the support and security offered by the CTA. Less than two years after this experiment began, Li Na and Zheng Jie are opening the 2010 tennis season by becoming the first pair of Chinese players to make it to the singles final at a Grand Slam (they were also the first pair to the quarterfinals). Li Na took down Venus Williams in her quarterfinal, and Zheng beat Maria Kirilenko.
These two didn't come out of nowhere, and it's not the first major success for China's female tennis stars. Zheng and her partner Zi Yan won the doubles final at the Australian Open in 2006, and Zheng reached the semifinals of Wimbledon in 2008. But coming just one season after both players took control of their own careers, it supports Li's argument last year that such freedom should be extended to other sports. "It is very important for us to have the right to choose. I really mean it," she said last spring, according to an AFP report.
Li Na's semi against Serena Williams is live right now, and Zheng Jie's semi against Justine Henin will take place Friday morning. And in keeping the footwear theme in this week's posts, it should be noted that Zheng Jie is wearing Chinese brand Anta shoes and gear. Li Na is still with Nike.
Related: Zhang Shuai and the future of Chinese tennis
Li Na image: Xunying.com
Tags: Anta, Australian Open, Li Na, Nike, state sports system, tennis, Zheng Jie
Zheng makes victorious return to Wimbledon, Li also advances
Wednesday, 24th June 2009 ~ Chris ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
China's top female tennis player Zheng Jie (郑洁) returned victoriously to Wimbledon on Monday one year after she made a name for herself by reaching the tournament's semifinal round.
Zheng, currently ranked number 15 in the world, beat Kristina Barrois of Germany 7-6 (2), 7-6 (4) at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London on Monday in what was a high-pressure return for the Chengdu native.
"Indeed, there is a big change for me in one year and I do feel more pressure coming back here," Zheng recently told the China Daily. "A lot of people hope I make the semi-finals again or go even better."
Zheng has been a Wimbledon champion before – in 2006 she and doubles partner Yan Zi won the women's doubles competition.
The diminutive Zheng still has far to go to equal her standout performance last year – her next step is to face Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova in the second round today.
This year's tournament is the first to feature two Chinese seeds in the singles draw – Zheng is joined by Li Na (李娜), who is ranked number 19 in the world. Li has also advanced to the second round after beating Kazakhstan's Galina Voskoboev on Tuesday.
Zheng Jie image: Women's Tennis Blog
Tags: Li Na, tennis, Wimbledon, Zheng Jie
Ugliness and Grumbling
Tuesday, 21st April 2009 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
The Chinese Football Association embarrassed itself yet again by sending professionals to play in the International School Sports Federation's World Schools Championship. A bunch of women who play in the CFA suited up for China's Chongqing Daping, beating the girls from Germany just 8-6 in the final. The CFA claims it had nothing to do with this, but given the amount of control that Chinese sports administrations and teams exercise over athletes, it is impossible that these women snuck off to Turkey to play in the tournament.
Tennis player speaks out against state system
Tennis player Li Na called for other athletes to enjoy the freedom that has recently been extended to China's tennis players. She and Zheng Jie have both improved their rankings since the Chinese Tennis Association has freed them to determine their training schedules and keep more of their winnings.
Tags: CFA, cheating, football, Li Na, soccer, state sports administration, tennis, Zheng Jie
Zheng Jie returns to Sichuan to visit earthquake zone
Wednesday, 15th April 2009 ~ Chris ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
Chinese tennis star and Chengdu native Zheng Jie (郑洁) returned to Sichuan yesterday to participate in charity events in the area affected by last year's earthquake on May 12, which killed at least 69,000.Zheng, currently China's top female tennis player, was playing in Italy when the quake struck. Shortly afterward, Zheng became the darling of international tennis when she upset the world number one Ana Ivanovic en route to the semifinals at Wimbledon, where she lost to Serena Williams.
Zheng was the first Chinese player - male or female – to make it to the Wimbledon semis. She was lauded at home in China for donating all of her winnings at Wimbledon, totaling more than 1 million yuan ($146,334), to the earthquake relief effort. She also built a playground for students in the hard-hit city of Dujiangyan.
Zheng will be playing in Europe on May 12, so she decided to make an appearance just prior to the quake's anniversary.
"I will play matches in Europe on May 12 this year, so I will visit the stricken area a few days earlier this time," Zheng told Chinese media. "As a Sichuan native, I'm very happy to contribute to my hometown as much as possible."
This time around, Zheng was scheduled to visit primary school students of Hongbai Town in Shifang city and donate tennis equipment supplied by Chinese sporting goods company Anta, which sponsors her.
Zheng's international success has been a driving force behind a surge of interest in tennis in China. China is gradually building more of an infrastructure to promote tennis at the grassroots level, including the recently announced China Open Rating Tour (CRT), an amateur league which will host competitions in seven cities nationwide, including Chengdu.
Zheng, who is currently ranked 16th in the world, said her current goal is to crack the top 15. She is currently preparing to compete in the Fed Cup and French Open in May.
Tags: Chengdu, CRT, Sichuan, tennis, Wimbledon, Zheng Jie
China to launch amateur tennis league next month
Tuesday, 24th March 2009 ~ Chris ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
The words 'tennis powerhouse' are not generally associated with China, but the PRC has made great progress in recent years in terms of establishing itself as a rising star in the tennis world – witness Li Na coming in second at this month's Monterrey Open and Zheng Jie (pictured above) making it to the semifinals at Wimbledon last year.
In an effort to spur greater interest in tennis at the grassroots level, China's sports authorities announced the creation of a new national amateur tennis league – the China Open Rating Tour (CRT) – which will launch next month. As China Daily explains:
The CRT will be divided into three levels of proficiency to sharpen its competitive edge, similar to a boxing competition with different weight classes. It will feature singles, doubles and mixed doubles play. Winners of each competition level will battle for the national trophy during the newly promoted China Open tournament that runs from Oct 1-11.
The tournament will be divided into six regions, with seven cities hosting competition. The regions and cities include: North (Beijing), Northeast (Shenyang), Central (Wuhan), East (Shanghai), South (Guangzhou) and West (Kunming and Chengdu).
Amateurs and retired professionals of any age – or nationality – are invited to apply to compete in the CRT via the league's official website.
Zheng Jie image: ydl169.com
Tags: Beijing, Chengdu, China Open Rating Tour, CRT, Guangzhou, Kunming, Li Na, Shenyang, tennis, Wuhan, Zheng Jie
Women in the Olympics, Part 2
Saturday, 16th August 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
For its Olympic coverage, China's top Internet TV program, Sexy Beijing, is turning to China Sports Today for a little sports expertise. In this episode, shot a couple of days ago, we discuss gender testing at the Olympics and tennis sensation Zheng Jie.For more of Sufei and Sexy Beijing, check out their Internet TV station here.
Tags: Beijing Olympics, Olympics, Sexy Beijing, women, Zheng Jie
Li Na beats Venus to reach singles tennis semis
Friday, 15th August 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
Another world-class tennis tournament, another semifinal appearance for a Chinese player. Li Na (李娜) pulled off a huge upset and kept China's tennis singles medal hopes alive when she beat Venus Williams (USA)—7-5, 7-5—Thursday night in Beijing. Li, ranked 42nd in the world, dropped the Wimbledon champion and 8th ranked player in two sets.
Olympic quarterfinalist Li Na
Li came back from a 4-1 deficit to force and win a tie break in the first set. She carried that momentum into the next set, going up 3-1. Venus fought back to take three sets in a row and a 4-3 lead, but couldn't hold on to her lead. The win puts Li into the semifinals, where she will face the winner of a match between Jelena Jankovic (Serbia) and Dinara Safina (Russia).
With her win at the 2006 Australian Open, Li became the first woman from China to win a WTA singles event. Since then, she has three third-place finishes in Grand Slam events.
Li is the last woman standing among China's four entries in the tournament. Zheng Jie (郑洁), hot off a run to the Wimbledon semifinals, lost in the third round of the singles tournament to Russia's Safina (6-4, 6-3), the sixth ranked player in the world.
Alize Cornet of France dispatched Peng Shuai (彭帅) in the second round, and Yan Zi (晏紫) was the first of the Chinese women to be knocked out, losing in the first round to Vera Zvonareva (Russia).
Zheng gets a chance to avenge her loss when she and Yan, face Safina and Svetlana Kuznetsova in the doubles quarterfinal on Friday, August 15. The Chinese pair got there by beating a Swiss duo, 6-3; 7-6(2).
On the men's side, China has been much less competitive. Xu Xinyuan, Sun Peng and Zeng Shaoxuan all lost in short matches—55 minutes for Xu, 1 hour 6 minutes for Zeng and 1 hour and 7 minutes for Sun. Zeng and Xu also played doubles, losing in the first round.
Related: China's upset-minded tennis team gets its draws
Li Na image: 163.com
Tags: Beijing Olympics, Li Na, Olympics, Peng Shuai, tennis, Venus Williams, Yan Zi, Zheng Jie
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