Quick Hits: Gymnastics, boxing, beach volleyball, NBA
Wednesday, 27th October 2010 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
China's men's gymnastics, 2010 World Champions
Gold for Chinese men at gymnastics worlds
China's men's gymnastics team won gold at last week's Artistic Gymnastics World Championship in Rotterdam, Netherlands, barely beating out runner-up Japan, and setting up a big showdown with their rivals at November's Asian Games. The Chinese team consisted of: Chen Yibing (rings, vault), Feng Zhe (vault, parallel bars, uneven bars), Teng Haibin (pommel horse, parallel bars, uneven bars), Yan Mingyong (pommel horse, rings), Lu Bo (floor, pommel horse, rings, vault, parallel bars) and Zhang Chenglong (floor, uneven bars). Click here for complete results.
The women weren't quite as successful as the men, taking third in the team competition, behind Russia and the United States. On the team were Jiang Yuyuan (vault uneven bars, beam, floor), He Kexin (uneven bars), Sui Lu (beam, floor), Huang Qiushuang (vault, uneven bars, floor), Deng Linlin (beam) and Yang Yilin (vault). Click here for complete results.
China was the top medal winner overall at the championships, with 4 gold medals, 4 silvers and 1 bronze.
World Series of Boxing's Beijing team
The new World Series of Boxing, launched by the International Boxing Association (AIBA) and set to begin November 19, includes a Chinese team, the Beijing Dragons. The team is owned by the Yeland Boxing Club, a subsidiary of a real estate company called the Yeland Group. The team is coached by Wu Xiaosong, and features 13 Chinese boxers and three internationals, from Brazil, Senegal and Ghana.
The series is divided into three conferences—Asia, Americas and Europe. Beijing's home fights take place November 27, December 18, January 15, January 29, February 19, and March 12 (schedule). The post-season runs from April through a final on May 11.
Rockets-Lakers opener
The Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Lakers will open the season against each other in LA tonight (Tuesday, October 26, 7:30 p.m. LA time; October 27, 10:30 a.m. Beijing time). It's a great matchup for the Chinese market, which has plenty of fans of both teams, and is eager to see how Yao looks after a season off rehabbing after a broken foot (Houston Chronicle: Rockets look to steal show in opener against Lakers)
Two golds for China in beach volleyball championship
China dominated the Asian Volleyball Confederation Beach Volleyball Championship in Haikou last week. Zhang Xi and Xue Chen won the women's gold (http://www.asianvolleyball.org/beach/2010-10-25/333115.html), easily beating a pair from Kazakhstan. The Chinese men had two duos in the medals—Wu Penggen and Xu Linyin won the gold, and Gao Peng and Li Jian took bronze. The next competition for Asia's beach volleyball stars is the Asian Games in Guangzhou, with the early rounds starting November 15, women's finals on the 23rd, and men's finals on the 24th.
China men's gymnastics team image: News.cnnb.com
Tags: beach volleyball, boxing, Gymnastics, Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Lakers, NBA
All eyes on Lakers at Rockets
Wednesday, 11th March 2009 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
But it's not just about Yao and the Rockets. There are almost as many Kobe Bryant fans in China as there are Yao fans, so people will be tuning in to see what the mvp candidate does, too.
Off the roster is Lakers guard Sun Yue, one of three Chinese players in the NBA this season. Sun missed the start of the season due to mononucleosis and played in 10 games, averaging about half a point. He has recently been reassigned to the Lakers' developmental team.
The Lakers are 2-0 against the Rockets this season.
While we're on the topic of the NBA, this Bloomberg piece is an interesting read: NBA may benefit as China boosts sports arena plans.
Yao and Kobe image: gzxw.com
Tags: basketball, Houston Rockets, Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers, NBA, Sun Yue, Yao Ming
Yao, Yi and Sun face different pre-season challenges
Tuesday, 7th October 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
As the start of the NBA season gets closer, each of China's three NBA players--veteran Yao Ming, second-year player Yi Jianlian and rookie Sun Yue--is facing completely different challenges.Yao Ming, along with Tracy McGrady, is one of two leaders of a Houston Rockets team that's in the hunt for a long-awaited NBA title. He's also still working on completely healing from a foot fracture that ended his season 26 games early last year. A healthy and productive season for Yao is obviously a key ingredient to team success, and to his status as one of the league's premier big men.
Yi Jianlian is adjusting to his new team, the New Jersey Nets, and jetting to Paris and London for exhibition games against the Miami Heat. After getting his wish of moving to a larger market with a bigger Chinese-American population, the power forward is now vying for playing time with other talented front court players including Josh Boone, Stromile Swift, Eduardo Najera and Brook Lopez.
In Los Angeles, Lakers rookie Sun Yue is out indefinitely with mononucleosis. The illness should keep him off the court and out of the weight room for several weeks, not a good look for a player who needs some quick NBA grooming to establish himself as someone who is ready for the league.
Ironically, no Chinese nationals will be suiting up for the two pre-season games in Beijing later this month. The Golden State Warriors take on Yi's former team, the Milwaukee Bucks, in a pair of games October 15 and 18, in Guangzhou and Beijing.
Tags: Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Lakers, Milwaukee Bucks, NBA, New Jersey Nets, Sun Yue, Yao Ming, Yi Jianlian
Sun Yue sidelined with mono
Friday, 26th September 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
Chinese national basketball team member and Lakers rookie guard Sun Yue was introduced to the media in Los Angeles Wednesday. With the help of a translator, he addressed a crowd that was outsized considering he was only the 40th overall pick in the 2007 draft, the LA Times reports.
Sun spoke about his longtime dream of playing in the NBA, and his particular interest in the Lakers. He also sought to manage expectations for his on-court performance, characterizing himself as a well-rounded player without exceptional skills in any particular area.
"I'm average," Sun said. "Not one skill that's very, very good, but no one skill that's very, very bad."
Any hope the 22-year-old guard had of making small improvements in the pre-season were soon dashed, though, by news that he will have to miss an indefinite period due to illness. Sun reportedly tested positive for mononucleosis shortly after the press conference.
Watch the full video of the press conference on NBA.com.
Sun Yue image: LA Times
Tags: basketball, Los Angeles Lakers, NBA, Sun Yue