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
Han strong in professional women's soccer debut
Monday, 30th March 2009 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
Jim Gabarra, head coach of the Washington Freedom, specifically identified Han in his post-game comments published on the WPS Web site: "Defending Marta and Han was a real handful, but I was happy." Han plays alongside Marta Vieira da Silva, widely known just by her first name. The Brazilian is the top female player in the world right now.
Han and the Sol play next Sunday in New Jersey against Sky Blue FC. To find out when she'll be in your city, check out the team's 20-game schedule here.
Han Duan image: Womensprosoccer.com
Tags: football, Han Duan, soccer, WPS
New Year, New Hope for Chinese Football
Saturday, 21st March 2009 ~ Cameron ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
2008: An all-time low
This time last year, the Chinese football world was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. The fear factor was at an all-time high--embarassing scenarios beckoned at every corner in 2008, in the shape of World Cup qualifying elimination and Olympics football tournament humiliation. So much so, that a particularly bird-brained proposal to cut the CSL 2008 season to a three-month mini tournament to allow the Olympic squad to concentrate on training was passed. Quite how denying the Olympic squad the only competitive football they would get would help their preparation was anyone's guess. But thankfully the ruling was overturned. Sadly it was not enough to prevent a dismal Olympic football showing for China, nor World Cup elimination for that matter.
Last year, on the domestic front, the withdrawal from the league of Wuhan in protest against defender Li Weifeng's (李玮峰) 8-game suspension for on-pitch fisticuffs, scandalized the competition yet again, as did CCTV's decision to take the league off-air for the last few weeks of the season in response to brawling players in the Beijing-Tianjin derby. As it turned out, it was CCTV's loss--the title race went right down the wire in the most exciting CSL finish in years.
Li Weifeng (l)
2009: The pressure is off and the sponsors are in
However, with no Olympics or World Cup to worry about in 2009, Chinese football can relax. As a matter of fact, the outlook is uncharacteristically bright for the CSL in 2009. The league is back on state television, and there is rumoured to be a TV show dedicated to questioning dodgy refereeing decisions in the offing. They'll have plenty to discuss. On the business side, major new sponsorships have been found in the shape of Pirelli, who have signed a three-year deal with the CSL. Financial details are scant but CSL chief Nan Yong said it was less than the 5 million Euros a year reported by some sources. Nevertheless, to have a multinational company sponsor the CSL is a huge boost. So is news that Nike are to provide kits for all teams for the next 10 years, pending the expiry of individual teams' existing deals with other manufacturers.
Season preview: Beijing vs. Shanghai for the title?
On the pitch, it looks like it's going to be another exciting title race with no one team an obvious favourite. China Sports Today puts its money on a fight to the death between two old rivals, Beijing Guoan and Shanghai Shenhua. Beijing have gotten one over Shanghai already by signing last year's CSL player of the year Emil Martinez--the Honduran midfielder returns to China on loan from CD Marathon to Guoan rather than Shenhua, where he spent last season. Beijing are also benefiting from a three million USD cash injection from the city government, and hopes are high that this will be the year they finally break their championship duck. Shenhua on the other hand are desperate to make for the agony of throwing away the title on the last day of the 2008 season and have made some impressive signings, including Australian international defender Mark Milligan.
Reigning champions Shandong Luneng may struggle this year after losing midfield dynamo Zhou Haibin to PSV Eindhoven. Roda Antar, a Lebanon international who spent the past eight years with Hamburg, Freiburg and Cologne in the German Bundesliga, is his replacement, but it remains to be seen if the three-times champions can win a third title in four years.
Of the other top sides, Tianjin Teda are usually a solid bet for a top five finish, but rarely if ever look like winning the title. Along with Shenhua, Shandong and Beijing, they will carry Chinese hopes in this season's Asian Champions League--in which two group games have already been played by the competing Chinese quartet.
The best of the rest
Looking elsewhere around the league, shock 2007 champions Changchun flattered to deceive last year but may mount a challenge, as might Shaanxi Baorong, who led the table for much of 2008. Fallen giants Dalian weren't far away from being relegated last year, but unless recently returned Dong Fangzhuo (董方卓) can find the scoring touch which first took him to Manchester United, it looks like another barren season for the Northeastern side. Last season's newly promoted sides Chengdu and Guangzhuo enjoyed solid first seasons and both now look like established CSL outfits.
The CSL wouldn't be complete without at least one team name change and this year Zhejiang Lucheng become Hangzhuo Lucheng. They have made a clutch of signings including Hong Kong international Ng Wai Chiu from Shanghai Shenhua, and they could be this season's dark horse.
Newly promoted is Jiangsu Shuntian who return to the top league after last competing in their inaugural season back in 1994. The Nanjing side will be amongst the relegation favourites, but in recent years newly promoted sides have fared relatively well. Fellow newbies Chongqing are back in the CSL after a two-year break, but even prior to this they were perennial strugglers.
Worth reading elsewhere on the net for a look ahead to CSL 2009 is John Duerden's in-depth preview of the new season on Goal.com, and FIFA's offical website which gives a good account of what's in store for this year's CSL.
The first game kicks off tonight when Henan Jianye take on Guangzhuo Pharmacuetical. The remaining first round fixtures all take place tomorrow.
Related: Dong Fangzhuo leaves Man U for Dalian
Li Weifeng image: Fourfourtwo.com
Tags: chinese football, csl, football, soccer
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