China Sports Today

Liu Xiang going abroad for surgery?

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 18:33:00 +0800

Media reports today are saying that Liu Xiang's Achilles' injury is going to require surgery, and that he is considering flying to the United States to go under the knife.

Guo Jingjing denies Hong Kong 2012 rumors

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 16:15:00 +0800

If Guo Jingjing (郭晶晶) isn't in the pool, she must be in the tabloids. Post-Olympic rumors have the diver taking her gold medals and moving to Hong Kong, where the buzz is that she may marry her boyfriend Kenneth Fok and compete for Hong Kong in the 2012 Olympics.

According to this AFP story she has denied the rumors, saying at a press conference in Hong Kong: "I have no plan to move to Hong Kong. I am still a member of China's national diving team and there will be many new plans and new goals to follow."

But because the next best thing to actual news about China's top-earning female athlete is speculation about possible news, the papers are not letting this one rest.

Some Hong Kong media are reporting that Guo's wedding plans have "entered the final sprint, with a wedding next September [2009]," according to a report on mainland sports portal Titan24. Moreover, the reports assert that Guo will not retire as the reigning "queen of diving" but will become a Hong Kong resident and represent Hong Kong in the 2012 Olympics in London.

"As soon as the Chinese Olympic champion representative group touched down at Hong Kong's airport, Guo Jingjing became Hong Kong media's number one target," the report said, "This has become the hottest topic of conversation among Hong Kong's sport and media circles."

According to that story, Guo has not been clear on whether she intends to marry or whether she'll compete in London at all.

The story also cited inside sources saying that should Guo want to represent HK in London, she'll need to talk with the China Olympic Committee and China Swimming Association. Conventional wisdom in China's sports circles seems to be suggesting that should she want to represent HK, neither organization will give her much trouble.

This is likely because she'll be 31 years old in 2012, and is unlikely to be perceived as a major gold medal threat.

Guo Jingjing image: Singtaonet

Golf in China: The view from the top

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 12:33:00 +0800

Recently US magazine Golf Digest selected what it considered to be China's top ten golf courses, with three of the top six courses being in Kunming, capital of southwest China's Yunnan province.

Perhaps surprisingly for those unfamiliar with golf in China, the top two courses are both located at the same resort - Spring City Golf and Lake Resort in the Yangzonghai resort area, approximately 45 kilometers southeast of Kunming.

How did Kunming end up having the two best courses in China? China Sports Today spoke with Spring City General Manager Arthur Yeo - who has been involved in the Spring City project since its inception in the early 1990s - about the challenges and rewards of building a world-class travel destination in Kunming:

China Sports Today: Spring City's Mountain and Lake Courses were recently named the top two courses in China - what other awards has Spring City won in the last few years?

Arthur Yeo: In the last few years we have won many awards - we average about 10 per year – it would be too lengthy to mention all of them.

However, some of the more significant awards are: Best Golf Course in China and Hong Kong by US Golf Digest [1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007 - they rank once in every two years], Best 500 Holes in the World in 2000 [18th hole mountain course designed by Jack Nicklaus] awarded by US Golf Magazine, Best Golf Course in Asia awarded by Asia Golf Monthly from 2004 to 2007, 100 Best Courses outside US ranked by US Golf Digest in 2005 & 2007 [ranked once every 2 years] and Best Golf Resort in China by World Travel Award [London] from 2005 to 2007

CST: How does Spring City overcome the challenge of having the best courses in China but being far from the coast?

Yeo: The recipe is a combination of good design, good construction adhering strictly to USGA specifications, good greenskeeping practice, good service management, spring-like weather all year round and being located in a very picturesque location with mountains and a lake.

This unique combination entices people to make Spring City Golf & Lake Resort a specific must-visit destination. Once they have visited the resort, they always come back again with their friends.

CST: What regions do Spring City's guests come from these days? Where do local Chinese fit into the picture?

Yeo: Our overseas guests are typically from Southeast Asia, Japan and South Korea but we also have many local Chinese guests. We are also attracting a growing number of expatriates working and living in China – they tend to be from the USA, Australia and Europe.

Also, the number of golfers in Kunming is growing very fast and they form our bread-and-butter players.

CST: Yunnan has some of the best courses in China, do you think it can become synonymous with golf holidays like Florida in the US?

Yeo: Currently, no, as the number of golf courses in Yunnan is limited to seven at present.

However, this could happen in the future. Florida is a very established and developed golf community as compared with the Yunnan golf industry, which only started up 10 years ago.

CST: As golf becomes a more established sport in China and fewer new courses are built, what trends do you foresee for courses and golf as a sport in general around the country in the next few years?

Yeo: The development of golf has a positive impact on the economic and social development of the country - the current trend is that there are more and more golf courses popping up in China even with the central government clamping down on the development of golf courses nationwide. Also, there is a rapid increase in the number of Chinese learning and taking up golf.

Golfing in China will explode, however, the central government in my opinion should not curb the development of golf but rather monitor and control a healthy development of the golf industry in China. More emphasis should be given to:

1. Increasing education in golf maintenance and management to make sure that there are sufficient qualified people running and managing golf courses

2. Ensuring that minimal potential farmland is being used for golf development

3. Ensuring that quality golf courses are being built in a way that maximizes the use of land resources

4. Using 'green belts' within cities to develop public golf courses for public access at a reasonable price

5. Implementing strict environmental guidelines and controls for golf course developers in order to protect the environment.

Related article: China's top 10 golf courses: Kunming is king

Dong Fangzhuo leaves Man U for Dalian

Sat, 30 Aug 2008 19:26:00 +0800

In a move as unsurprising as it was predictable, Manchester United's Chinese international striker Dong Fangzhuo has left the club by mutual consent following a rather fruitless five years with the reigning English champions. Dong will re-join his former club, eight-time Chinese Champions Dalian Shide who are currently languishing at the wrong end of the CSL table.

Dong was ineligible to play for Manchester when he first signed due to work permit issues, and was farmed out to Belgian side Royal Antwerp to take advantage of slacker employment regulations. He spent four seasons in Belgium, all but one of them in the second division, making 70 appearances and scoring 34 goals – a respectable rate of goal every two games. However, as even the most casual football observer would doubtlessly concur, the gulf in class between the Belgian second division and the top of the English Premiership is massive and Dong made only three appearances for Man U once he was granted a work permit, and none in an important match.

Reaction in the UK sports press to the 23-year-old's departure was somewhat unkind, with The Guardian claiming Dong would be as "remembered as one of the worst players to have ever appeared for the club." Whilst such a description may seem a little harsh for the man who scored China's only goal of the Olympic Football tournament, there can be little doubt that the main motivation behind his signing was a business, and not a sporting one. One hopes that Dong's confidence is not shattered by the naked greed of Premiership chairmen and their desire to empty the pockets of China's long-suffering football fans.

Elsewhere in Chinese football, more foreign disappointment Shanghai Shenhua's highly-rated young goalkeeper Wang Dalei is to return to China following un unsuccessful trial with top Dutch side PSV Eindhoven. The 19-year-old keeper, who had a trial with Inter Milan two years ago, is one of China's most highly-rated youngsters and will be in Shanghai's squad as it makes the short trip south for a derby match against Hangzhou's Zhejiang Lvcheng. A match report of this game will follow on China Sports Today.

Following a lay-off for the Olympics, the Chinese Super League gets back into full swing this week with a full fixture card. Surprise leaders Shanxi Baorong take on Henan Jianye, basement boys Liaoning FC face Changsha Ginde, struggling Dalian Shide take on Tianjin Teda, newly-promoted Chengdu Blades face capital side, Beijing Guoan, Wuhan Guanggu host Shenzhen Shangqingyin, and last season's second division chamipions Guangzhou Yiyao take on second-placed Shandong Luneng.

Olympic marketing: How did sportswear brands do?

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 16:21:00 +0800

For sports apparel brands, the Olympics are arguably the most important stage for marketing. So how did the sports marketers fare with the Chinese market in these Olympics? Here's a look at how things played out for Adidas, Li-Ning, Nike, Puma and Speedo.

Adidas

Adidas reportedly shelled out 70 million euros to be an official Olympic sponsor. Adidas gear was also all over Olympians, great for television. But aside from shoes and uniforms, Adidas wasn't particularly visible in Olympic venues. It had no special presence on the Olympic Green, but its beautiful flagship store in Sanlitun near the Workers' Stadium and Workers' Gymnasium saw lots of foot traffic.

Its Olympic ad campaign, though beautifully designed and fitting in concept (Together in 2008, Impossible is Nothing), came up short in the personnel categories. That campaign had four primary faces, in sports that are very popular in China--diver Hu Jia, footballer Zheng Zhi, basketball player Sui Feifei and a few women's volleyball players. Hu pulled out due to injury, Zheng and the men's football team had an embarrassing performance and Sui Feifei was only sixth in scoring on Team China. The women's volleyball team played strong in a very tough field, but in the end only came through with the minimum result acceptable to the hometown fans, a bronze medal.

Li-Ning

China's biggest sports apparel brand had the biggest marketing coup of the games—its founder, Li Ning, carrying the Olympic flame on a three-minute slow-motion run to the top of the Bird's Nest, where he lit the Olympic cauldron. The company's stock went up the next day, and Li Ning will always have his stamp on what seems to be an especially important part of the Olympics to Chinese fans.

Li Ning also had its name on the uniforms of China's diving and table tennis teams, who delivered dominant performances, as well as the Spanish national basketball team, which gave Team USA a tough match before losing in the gold medal game.

Nike

Nike's two biggest bets on Chinese athletes were Yi Jianlian and Liu Xiang. Yi was solid but not explosive, averaging 9 points a game. The Chinese national team, wearing Nike jerseys, didn't really exceed expectations, but certainly didn't come up short, making it to the quarterfinals before losing to Lithuania. But Chinese fans were more excited about catching a glimpse of Team USA, who were also sporting Nike's hot new jersey, available in stores all over Beijing.

Nike had to deal with the toughest spin job of any Olympic marketer this year—how to salvage its investment in China's biggest sports star, Liu Xiang, when he didn't even compete in the games. Nike's immediate answer--a full page ad celebrating the love of sport even in defeat--succeeded in becoming part of the stream of catharsis after Liu bowed out. Nike got some negative publicity for its efforts to hunt down netizens who alleged that the shoe company had coerced Liu to drop out rather than lose to Robles.

But Liu and Yi weren't the only athletes that Nike put is name behind. It was all over team China, and ready with full-page ads in China Daily and front-page ads in Titan sports news when any of its athletes won a medal or had a strong performance. Swimmer Zhang Lin (silver medalist), boxer Zou Shiming (gold medalist) and beach volleyball duo Tian Jia and Wang Fei (silver medalists) were just a few of the lower-profile high-achieving athletes that Nike celebrated in its Olympic campaign.

Puma

Dollar for dollar, Puma might have gotten the most of its Olympic investment. Its hopes ran on two spiked shoes-- those of sprinter Usain Bolt, who loped across the finish line to set the 100-meter dash world record. China loves a winner, and Bolt and the dominant Jamaican team were very well-received in Beijing. Jacques Rogge can complain all he wants, but most Chinese don't mind a guy who's willing to revel in his moment.

Speedo

If you weren't wearing a Speedo LZR Racer in this Olympics, you might as well never leave the Water Cube's warm-up pool. Nine out of every 10 swimming gold medals went to LZR wearers. The only complaint that people had about the LZR was that it made swimmers too fast, world records too common. The suit was considered such an integral part of success that Nike agreed to let its swimmers wear LZRs instead of Nike suits. Speedo doesn't have a big presence at Chinese sports retailers—swimwear here tends to be generic instead of branded—but China, along with the rest of the world, has no choice but to see Speedo as the leader in swimwear technology.

Bucks and Warriors to play China in 2008

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 00:00:00 +0800

The NBA keeps doing its best to dominate the post-Olympic China sports news cycle. The latest: the Milwaukee Bucks and Golden State Warriors will play a pair of preseason games in China in October. The first will be played in Guangzhou Gymnasium October 15; the second will take place at Beijing's Wukesong Arena October 18.

The Milwaukee Bucks are featured in this game, despite trading Chinese forward Yi Jianlian (易建联) to the New Jersey Nets on the eve of the NBA draft. The Bucks do have a player with a China connection, rookie Joe Alexander, who spent his middle school and early high school years in Beijing.

As sports marketing consultant Xia Song told CST in June, "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."

Related:
How the NBA draft looks from China
Basketball's China game plan

NBA signs Tsingtao, Lakers sign Sun Yue

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 01:17:00 +0800

In what we're sure is a total coincidence, NBA entities had two big China-related announcements right around the time Team USA finished its gold medal romp in Wukesong Arena in Beijing.

NBA China signed a sponsorship deal with Tsingtao, China's most popular beer and its only beverage brand with an international presence. According to this Bloomberg report, the deal includes plans for a dance contest and All-Star balloting in China. Tsingtao was on Olympic sponsor, available at the friendly price of 5 yuan at all venues during the games.

The other China product with a hot NBA contract is 23-year-old Sun Yue (孙悦), a guard who finally signed with the Los Angeles Lakers. Sun was drafted by the Lakers in 2007, but left to pick up some seasoning before starting contract talks this summer.

While Tsing Tsao and the NBA looks like a match made in heaven, we're a little more skeptical about Sun and the Lakers. He'll join a backcourt that doesn't need much help--Derek Fisher, Jordan Farmar and Kobe Bryant seem to have things pretty well in hand, and the team has a couple of other good prospects in training camp. Sun used to play point guard, but with the national team this season, he's been at shooting guard with Liu Wei running the point very capably. During the Olympics, he averaged a pedestrian 6.8 points and 2.5 assists per game.

Sun's been called the "Chinese Magic Johnson" in some Chinese media; don't expect that nickname to stick in a city that knows exactly how Magic played. But even if he never develops into a starter, this second round draft pick should be able to sell a few jerseys on Wangfujing, and cement more Laker loyalty among the Kobe-loving Chinese market.

For a look at Sun's pre-draft workout and video of him blocking Carmelo Anthony's shot, check out his CST profile page.

Tsingtao image: Tsingtao

Yao on the Olympic hangover

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 21:00:00 +0800

After seven years of preparation, hype and a call to "spread Olympic culture," whatever that is, China woke up this morning in a post-2008 Olympics world.

Even if you live in China, it's difficult as a foreigner to understand what hosting the games really meant to many people here. The Houston Chronicle's Fran Blinebury asked Yao Ming how he feels about the party being over, and got a weighty response, including these words:

[quote]"We have spent so many years preparing for this event and now it is over. I have just played in the most important competition of my career. Is my life over?

"I know that's not true. I know that sounds silly. But I guess you have to be Chinese to understand part of that feeling now and maybe you have to be me to know it all."[/quote]

The whole story, which essentially reads as a monologue from Yao on his thought about the games, can be found at Chron.com.

Beijing Olympics golden for China

Sun, 24 Aug 2008 22:08:00 +0800

On the final day of competition, China took two gold medals and a silver in women's rhythmic gymnastics to end up with a total of 51 gold medals and 100 medals overall – its best Olympic medal haul to date. Number two United States and number three Russian Federation trailed China with 36 and 23 golds, respectively.

In terms of total medals, the US took the most medals, with 110, followed by China with 100. The Russian Federation took the third-largest number of medals with 72.

Zou Shiming wins China's first boxing gold
Zou Shiming ( 邹市明) made Chinese sports history on the last day of the Beijing Olympics by claiming the country's first gold medal in boxing. Zou was declared winner in the second round when light-flyweight opponent Serdamba Purevdorj of Mongolia pulled out of the match due to an injury sustained in a previous match.

China's Zou Shiming won China's first boxing gold today by defeating Mongolia's Serdamba Purevdorj in the final of the light-flyweight class. Zou hit Purevdorj with a combo of punches in the first round, earning one point.

"I wanted to give the spectators a wonderful show, but I did not expect that my opponent would get injured," Zou said. "However, the gold medal is the most important thing."

Zhang Xiaoping picks up second boxing gold for China
Shortly after Zou Shiming gave China its first taste of boxing gold, light heavyweight Zhang Xiaoping (张小平) quickly added another gold medal in boxing by beating Kenny Egan of Ireland 11 to 7.

"I'm really excited," said Zhang, "before the Olympic Games, I was just a normal athlete but now I am a gold medalist. I was perfect today and did very well psychologically and physically. Throughout the Games, I fought with 100 per cent of my skills. I put myself in a low position and tried my best to fight against my opponent."

Zou Shiming image: Xinhua

Aussie denies China diving sweep

Sun, 24 Aug 2008 19:38:00 +0800

Going into the final dives of the men's 10-meter platform competition, it looked like China was about to sweep all eight diving gold medals, with Zhou Luxin and Huo Liang in first and second place. But Australia's Matthew Mitcham, trailing the leader Zhou by more than 30 points, went for broke with a 3.8 degree of difficulty dive, a back two and a half somersault with two and a half twists. He got four perfect 10s and scored 112.10, the highest score in the history of Olympic diving, to snatch the gold from his Chinese competitors. According to this Shanghaiist post, Mitcham is the only openly gay man competing at these Olympics.

Image: BOCOG

Inside National Stadium for the Liu Xiang-less race

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 21:29:00 +0800

I got extremely lucky about a month before the games started, when a friend of a friend sold me a pair of tickets at face value for last night's athletics (track and field) event at National Stadium in Beijing, aka the Bird's Nest.

It was the night that Liu Xiang would have defended his 110-meter hurdles gold from 2004. It was supposed to be a showdown between Liu—who had been elevated to superhuman status in China over the past four years—and world record holder Dayron Robles of Cuba, along with the USA's Terrence Trammell. But only Robles would run, as both Liu and Trammell had pulled out with injuries.

After Liu left the stadium rather than run his preliminary heat Monday, scores of Chinese fans reportedly headed for the exits. Given that China now had no man in the race, and no medal contenders in any of the evening's finals, attendance looked strong Thursday night, with few empty seats visible in the tk-seat stadium. The bargain basement 200-yuan tickets being sold by scalpers outside might have had something to do with it.

I took my seat in the third tier. It was my first time inside the Bird's Nest, and I have good news to report: Even up near the ceiling, the view of the track and the field is pretty good. The nosebleeds in the stadium are much better than the ones in the nearby Water Cube.

Throughout the course of the evening, it became clear that Chinese fans appreciate the stellar sprint performance that Jamaica has had this year. After Chinese athletes, it was the runners in yellow and green who got the loudest cheers.

Despite the fact that Liu was absent, it seemed that the crowd considered his race the marquee event of the evening. After it ended, the stadium began to empty quickly. Have the Chinese actually become fans of the 110-meter hurdles race or had they been holding out hope that Liu Xiang would somehow show up? Maybe they heard about the Nike conspiracy theory and thought Jacques Rogge and the IOC would step in and give Liu a spot in the final.

Though it still seemed to be the moment that many of the spectators had come to see, when Robles crossed the finish line in 12.93 seconds, he was met with the quietest applause of any of the night's gold medalists. And my enthusiastic cheers for USA runners David Payne and David Oliver, who came in second and third, were met with long looks by my neighbors.

It must have been a bitter night for Liu Xiang fans. For Team USA, it was bittersweet. America's high moment of the evening was its gold-silver-bronze sweep of the men's 400 meters. But the lows were lower than a middle school high jump bar—both the US men and women dropped the baton in their 4 X 100 meters relay preliminary heats, ending the medal hopes of these heavily favored teams. When the men dropped their baton, it seemed to give some Chinese fans a sense of relief—I distinctly heard ripples of laughter in the stadium when the moment was replayed on the jumbotron.

Field hockey China's last chance for team gold

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 19:04:00 +0800

After losses for China's women's basketball and volleyball teams last night, China has just one shot remaining at a gold medal in a team sport. The women's field hockey team takes on the Netherlands in the final tonight at 8:30, Beijing time. China upset European champions and 2004 gold medalists Germany to reach tonight's final.

Both the women's basketball and volleyball teams lost in semifinal games Thursday night,. The basketball team was handled easily by Australia, 90-56, sending coach Tom Maher's team to play Russia for the bronze on Saturday. Australia had a
balanced attack with five players scoring in double figures. China's high scorer was Bian Lan with 20. Australia held Miao Lijie, averaging 19.5 points going into the game, to just 10 points and two made field goals. The Australians face the USA Saturday in the final.

The volleyball team lost to Olympic favorite Brazil, 3-0, on Thursday. The first set was the hardest fought, with Brazil emerging 27-25. The Chinese team got progressively weaker, losing the next two sets 25-22 and 25-14. China plays Cuba for bronze on Saturday.

China's top team sport performance thus far in these Olympics was in beach volleyball, where its two women's pairs claimed silver and bronze.

Field hockey results page

Basketball results page

Volleyball results page

Field hockey team image: BOCOG

IOC investigating ages of Chinese gymnasts

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 12:48:00 +0800

The International Olympic Committee has launched an investigation into the ages of gold medal-winning gymnasts He Kexin (何可欣) and Yang Yilin (杨伊琳), according to multiple media reports. Accusations have been leveled that the hosts cheated by faking age records in the sport, which requires that athletes be turning 16 or older in the year they enter Olympic competition.

If the IOC finds that He and Yang are underage and strips China of medals they won, that would cost China both of its women's gymnastics golds—the team title and He's uneven bars gold—and two bronzes, won by Yang in the uneven bars and the all-around competition.

The Associated Press claimed to have found archived reports (later scrubbed from the Internet) from last November in Chinese state media Xinhua, stating that He was 13 in 2007. More recently, some digging by an American computer security expert revealed more records indicating that He is underage.

Related: China, US medal competition heats up

He Kexin image: Boston Globe

In the gym and on the beach, China's women still in the hunt for volleyball gold

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 11:11:00 +0800

UPDATE: The USA's Walsh and May-Treanor defeated Tian and Wang, leaving China with silver and bronze in women's beach volleyball.

A win against Russia Tuesday night put China into the semifinals of the women's volleyball competition. Defending Olympic champion China won the quarterfinal in three sets, 25-22, 27-25, 25-19.

China's semifinal pits it against Brazil, undefeated in these Olympics.
Brazil's men's team knocked China out in the quarterfinals. The women's match is scheduled for 8:00 tonight Beijing time. Cuba and the USA play in the other semifinal and the gold medal match takes place Saturday.

In beach volleyball, an all-China semifinal ended in victory for top seeds
Tian Jia (田佳) and Wang Jie over Xue Chen and Zhang Xi. Xue and Zhang went on to win the bronze, defeating a Brazilian duo, 21-17, 21-19. As this post goes live, Tian and Wang are taking on America's Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor, in what should be a very competitive gold medal contest.

Related:
China's women aiming for beach volleyball gold
Tough road for China's beloved women's volleyball

Image: Jieyang.gd.cn

Buying scalped Olympic tickets

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 20:36:00 +0800

Despite saying that scalping would not be tolerated at these games, the Beijing police seem to be turning a blind eye to the practice, which is common in China. At every event I have been to, I've seen active and obvious transactions going on, with uniformed cops standing mere feet away. It's a far cry from the undercover sting bust I experienced in the spring at an Olympic test event. It's a good thing the powers that be have decided to let it go, because keeping the venues full seems a big enough problem as it is.

How best to game the scalping? Blogger Ben Ross, currently in Beijing, has a good breakdown of how the system works and how best to make it work for you.