Looking back: China's top 10 sports stories in 2009
Monday, 21st December 2009 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
The Bird's Nest is just one of a growing number of white elephants in China. Jinan's Olympic Stadium, above, was built for this year's National Games.
1. Chinese soccer league match fixing
Bribery, match fixing, betting—the Chinese Soccer League has long been tainted with some of sport's worst scourges. In November, police arrested 16 players, coaches and officials in an attempt to clean up the league. But observers say that a lot more still needs to be done.
2.Chinese swimming makes a splash in Rome
When Zhang Lin became China's first male swimming world champ in Rome this summer--winning the 800-meter freestyle in world record time--media quickly crowned him the Liu Xiang of the pool. But unlike Liu, Zhang had some backup from his teammates, as China put in its best ever performance at the world meet. With 4 golds and 10 medals, China was behind only the United States and Germany. Though Zhang Lin dominated the headlines, it was the women—led by Liu Zige and Zhao Jing--who were responsible for China's breakout. Female swimmers accounted for all but two of China's medals, and three of the four golds.
3. Diving judging scandal
China's national games diving competition was shaken up when one judge quit late in the competition, and then leveled accusations that results were fixed and that Zhou Jihong, head of the Chinese diving federation, calls all the shots.
4. Sports official spills secrets
Former national volleyball coach and long-time senior sports administration leader Yuan Weimin published his memoir, "Yuan Weimin: Storms of the Chinese Sports World" in October. Among the stories in Yuan's memoir that are making sports officials squirm is the tale of a shady vote-trading arrangement that put Belgium's Jacques Rogge at the head of the International Olympic Committee and brought the 2008 games to Beijing.
4. Empty Nest
The Beijing Olympics' iconic building, Beijing National Stadium--aka the Bird's Nest, aka a $400 million project that takes $70 million to maintain annually, aka a venue that required the relocation of thousands of families—has hosted only four events since the games ended 16 months ago (including an opera and a martial arts show that couldn't have possibly turned a profit). The situation is so bad that in the fall, the state took back operating control of the venue from its private owners.
5. Liu Xiang's return
A grimacing Liu Xiang limping around the Bird's Nest track was one of the most potent images of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. The former Olympic and world record holder in the 110-meter hurdles, an athlete who rivals Yao Ming in prominence in China, was unable to run because of an injury to his Achilles tendon. More than a year later, he put doubts to rest about whether his career was finished, returning to competition in the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix, where he finished second in a 13.15-second photo finish.
6. China win's women's curling worlds
Curling? On a top 10 list? Stick with me here… When China's women's curling team won world championships last year, skipper Wang Bingyu and her teammates became instant media stars on the mainland. The current team is China's first generation of curlers, and if Canada doesn't figure out how to beat them at the 2010 Winter Olympics, curling will become only the second team sport in which China has won an Olympic gold medal (women's volleyball being the other, in 1984 and 2004).
7. Dealmaker Kenny Huang
Last May, news broke that a Chinese investor was nearing a deal to purchase a 15 percent stake in the Cleveland Cavaliers NBA franchise. That investor was Huang Jianhua, or Kenny Huang, who subsequently made a deal to promote youth baseball with the Chinese Baseball Association and to purchase a team in the Chinese Basketball Association. Last week, reports indicated that the Cavs purchase might go through before the end of the year. The lead on the deal is now Albert Hung, but Huang's still very much involved and seems to have dreams of a Chinese sports empire--keep an eye on this guy.
9. HSBC Champions
Shanghai's HSBC Champions golf tournament was elevated this year to World Golf Championship status, with $7 million in prize money. Phil Mickelson and Ernie Els finished first and second, and China got its last look at a squeaky clean Tiger Woods, who finished sixth. In his reporting on the event for ESPN, Shanghaiist editor Dan Washburn wrote that the event was well timed, as the inclusion of golf in the Olympics could provide a boost to the sport's popularity and official support here. HSBC Champions returns to Shanghai next year, which means it will take place alongside the Shanghai World Expo.
10. China disappears from the NBA
While Huang buys his way into the NBA, Chinese players are limping out. Yao Ming is missing the current season with a foot fracture, and the Nets' Yi Jianlian played just four games before sitting out at least the next 24 with injuries. The next great hope, Sun Yue, was dropped by the Lakers, then picked up and dropped by the New York Knicks. The NBA could really use another once-in-a-lifetime athlete like Yao right about now.
Related:
Zhang Lin, China's first male swimming champ
China Daily: Enthusiasm fades for Bird's Nest
LA Times on Yuan Weimin
ESPN.go.com: Olympics makes China major player in golf
Tags: Bird's Nest, curling, Dan Washburn, football, HSBC Champions, Huang Jianhua, Kenny Huang, Liu Xiang, Liu Zige, NBA, soccer, Sun Yue, Yi Jianlian, Yuan Weimin, Zhang Lin
Beijing Guo'an wins Chinese Soccer League Championship
Monday, 2nd November 2009 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
As predicted twice now by CST writer Cameron Wilson (the first time more impressive than the second), Beijing Guo'an secured the Chinese Soccer League championship Saturday with a 4-0 win over Hangzhou Greentown. It's the first title for Guo'an.There's a lot wrong with the CSL, but at least in Beijing they are getting one thing right—they have built a fan base that actually really cares about their team. They show up to games and buy team gear, which is more than can be said for the local basketball team, the Beijing Ducks. Scuffles broke out in Beijing last when some couldn't get tickets to Guo'an's title-clinching game. Security was beefed up for the actual game—witness these photos from Beijing Boyce.
The level of play in the CSL is generally considered poor, but that doesn't stop the crowds from filling up the Workers' Stadium, many of them sporting the team's green jerseys. As for the Beijing team's success, David Yang at China Sports Review says the lion's share of credit should, but won't, go to Lee Jang-Soo (李章洙), the Korean coach who Yang says "transformed the way Guo'an played." Lee was fired about six weeks ago, even as his team sat in second place in the CSL. For an English language perspective on Guo'an's championship season, check out this Sina blog.
Tags: Beijing Guo'an, CSL, football, soccer, Workers' Stadium
Titan Front Page: Kaka vs. Messi and Kobe's best buddy Sun
Thursday, 11th June 2009 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
The rest of the page is all basketball--a column by Zhang Weiping（张卫平）about the Orlando Magic's struggles against the Lakers, and a photo of Sun Yue sitting next to, or as the caption seems to joke, protecting, Kobe on the flight to Orlando for Game 3 of the NBA Finals. Forgive us if we are a little skeptical about the MVP runner-up's motivation for creating a photo op with a player who's been relegated to the D-League and just happens to be one of three NBA players from China.
Titan Sports is China's leading sports newspaper, putting out issues every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. It is published jointly by Hunan Art and Culture Publishing House and Titan Publishing House (Danwei).
Tags: FC Barcelona, football, Kaka, Lakers, Messi, NBA, Real Madrid, soccer, Titan front page, 张卫平
Titan front page: Guangdong CBA champs, Rockets-Lakers series, Barcelona's win
Monday, 4th May 2009 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
The story at the right of the page (科比+湖人:强敌, or Kobe + Lakers, Formidable Opponents）is about the playoff series between the Houston Rockets and the Los Angeles Lakers. Inside, nine pages are dedicated to coverage of the series, which starts Monday night in Los Angeles (Tuesday morning in China). It's the first time that Yao's Rockets have advanced past the first round of the playoffs. If you didn't know already, Kobe Bryant has more fans in China than he has in Los Angeles, and Yao Ming is, well, Chinese, so the conference semifinals should be as widely watched here the NBA Finals will be.
The story at the bottom of today's front page comes from European soccer, specifically Barcelona's 6-2 upset of Real Madrid.
Titan Sports is China's leading sports newspaper, putting out issues every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. It is published jointly by Hunan Art and Culture Publishing House and Titan Publishing House (Danwei).
Tags: Barcelona, CBA, football, Kobe Bryant, Lakers, NBA, Real Madrid, Rockets, soccer, Titan front page, Yao Ming
Sheffield United, Chengdu Blades cosponsoring Hong Kong FA Cup
Monday, 27th April 2009 ~ Chris ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
Chengdu Blades chairman Tony Xu was in London last week to join Kevin McCabe, chairman of the Blades' parent club Sheffield United to announce a sponsorship deal for the 2008/9 Hong Kong FA Cup, which will now be known as the 'Sheffield United FA Cup'.
The Blades' reserve team - playing in Hong Kong under the name of Sheffield United Hong Kong - will face Sham Shui Po in the tournament's opening fixture on May 12. The Cup's final will be held at Hong Kong Stadium on May 31.
"It is a great honour for Sheffield United and Chengdu Blades to be invited to sponsor the Hong Kong FA Cup," Sheffield United's McCabe told reporters. "It demonstrates our commitment to supporting the growth of football in China and Hong Kong, whilst we continue to make the 'Blades' a global football proposition."
Sheffield United became the first foreign owners of a Chinese football club when it purchased the Chengdu Blades in January 2006.
The Hong Kong FA Cup was first held in 1975, when it was known as the Golden Jubilee Cup. The current cupholders are Citizen, who beat Woofoo Tai Po 2:0 in the HKFA Cup final, which raised funds for the Wenchuan earthquake, which had taken place six days earlier.
Tags: Chengdu, Chengdu Blades, football, Hong Kong, Kevin McCabe, London, Sheffield United, Sheffield United Hong Kong, soccer, sports, Tony Xu, Wenchuan earthquake
Chongqing cheats return soccer title, not trophy
Friday, 24th April 2009 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
The Chinese team that won an international youth championship by stacking itself with pros has said it will let go of its claim on the title, says a Sydney Morning Herald report.For now, it's the principal of Daping School in Chongqing who is taking the heat, according to the SMH story, which quotes Zhang Jianling as saying: "What we have done goes against sportsmanship and has undermined the image of our city as well as soccer's development in China."
Titan, China's biggest sports newspaper, reports in its online edition (here in Chinese) that the school will keep the physical trophy, as a reminder of the shame of the incident.
It's difficult to make sense of all of the blame-shifting that's going on, but the Chinese Football Association still denies any knowledge of the scheme. This is difficult to believe. China's women's professional soccer league isn't widely followed and the matches are generally held in small venues, but this is a busy time of year for the teams. And as is true with every sport in China, players' schedules are closely dictated by their teams' leadership.
Related: Ugliness and Grumbling
Tags: Chongqing Daping, football, Soccer
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
News roundup: CBA brawls, Yao, NBA TV, golf, doping
Tuesday, 14th April 2009 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
The last week has been a bit quiet here on CST. We apologize for that and bring you a quick roundup of some of the China's sports news from the past 10 days or so:Big fines in CBA playoff brawl
A total of 330,000 yuan ($48,290 USD) in fines were dished out to five players and two teams for a fight during a Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) playoff game last week. The Guangdong Tigers routed Shandong Gold, 126-79, in Game 3 of the first-round game. The CBA's been a little rowdy this year, and Chinese basketball officials blame it on new rules allowing for more physical play.
The fines, which were accompanied by short suspensions (two and three games for Guangdong players), don't seem to have hurt the Tigers, who went on to win their first second-round game over Dongguan, moving Yi Jianlian's former team one step closer to its fifth championship. The Guangdong roster includes NBA veteran Smush Parker and four members of China's 2008 Olympic team.
Rockets surging, Yao aching
The oft-injured Yao Ming gave Houston Rockets fans a scare when he sat out a game last week with a sore right foot. But 42-year-old center Dikembe Mutombo did exactly what he was brought in for, giving Yao a break and posting 10 points, 15 boards and four blocks last Friday in a win over Golden State. Yao returned to the lineup after tests showed his pain was just due to a bruise, and paced the Rockets with 22 points in a win over the Charlotte Hornets in their final home game. The Rockets lead the Southwest Division and are neck-and-neck with the San Antonio Spurs for third in the West.
NBA TV China
The NBA announced plans for two reality shows in China. The first will be a cheerleading competition airing on CCTV-5 (China's national sports channel) starting May 9. Brewing company Tsing Tsao is the NBA's partner for the show, in which the cheerleaders compete for a trip to train with an NBA cheering team. The second show, sponsored by China Mengniu Dairy, will be a basketball competition broadcast on Shandong Satellite TV. Airing on Fridays starting May 22, NBA Mengniu Basketball Disciple will feature young hoop dreamers competing for a shot at the NBA D-League.
Han gets assist in Sol win
Chinese striker Han Duan notched her first assist for the Los Angeles of the new Women's Professional Soccer league. The Sol beat Sky Blue FC (New York/New Jersey) to improve to 2-0. Han also had a shot on goal but came up short. The Sol play again on Sunday, April 19, against FC Gold Pride.
Doping swimmers suspended
The Chinese Swimming Association announced it would suspended five junior swimmers for two years for testing positive for anabolic steroids last June. The suspensions of Qu Jing, Liu Bingyao, Zuo Ziqiao, Fu Bo and Hu Shaozhi are retroactively effective to the date of the tests, meaning that they are already nearly halfway through their suspensions and will return with plenty of time left to train for the 2012 Olympics. Why did it take so long to issue the suspensions? That old excuse, "the Olympics." Ouyang Kunpeng, once China's top backstroker, was banned for life by the Chinese Swimming Association just weeks before the 2008 Olympics, after a positive anabolic steroids test.
Liang plays his way into fourth major
Liang Wenchong, China's most accomplished golfer to date, qualified for the British Open at a qualifying event in Singapore. Liang finished second in the qualifying tournament to earn a spot at the Open in July. Liang played in the British Open last year--it was his third Major and the first one in which he made the cut. He also played in last year's Masters and the 2007 PGA Championship (Liang makes British Open cut).
Women fail to qualify for China Open
Four women took part in qualifying competitions for the European Tour-sanctioned Volvo China Open, but none were able to qualify. Among the women looking to qualify were Wang Chun (China.org), who qualified for the Japan LPGA Tour in 2007, and Ye Zhaoying, once the world's top female badminton player (Reuters).
Tags: basketball, football, golf, Han Duan, Houston Rockets, Liang Wenchong, NBA, Ouyang Kunpeng, soccer, swimming, Tsingtsao, Yao Ming
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