Yao Back in Beijing, China Wins 8th Straight
Thursday, 26th June 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
Yao Ming returned to Beijing Wednesday and will report to practice Friday, according to several media reports. The Chinese men's national team got its second win over a Lithuanian team (this BOCOG report calls them Lithuania's "C team") the day before. Yi Jianlian had 26 points and five rebounds in the 110-92 win in Shenzhen.It's China's eighth win in a row, but the last three came over Croatia's B team, and the three before that came against a University of Memphis team that was missing its top three players. China won the first game over Lithuania "C" by a score of 87-70. Wang Zhizhi, Li Nan and Zhang Qingpeng hit three three-pointers apiece.
China, coached by Lithuanian Jonas Kazlauskas, has not actually decided its roster for the Olympics.
Tags: basketball, Li Nan, national team, Wang Zhizhi, Yao Ming, Yi Jianlian, Zhang Qingpeng
Women's Soccer in AFC Final
Friday, 6th June 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
Under new coach Shang Ruihua, China's women's soccer (football) team has played its way into an opportunity to defend the AFC (Asian Football Confederation) Women's Asian Cup. The "Steel Roses" came back from a 1-0 start yesterday to beat Japan, 3-1. Wang Dandan came off the bench to score two goals in six minutes, and Han Duan scored the team's third goal.China will face North Korea Sunday in the final in Ho Chi Minh City. China has won eight of the last 10 AFC Cups since 1986.
Wang Dandan gets some love from her teammates.
Image: Yahoo! Sports
Tags: football, Han Duan, national team, Shang Ruihua, soccer, Wang Dandan
A Shot Across the Bow
Friday, 6th June 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
Far from a traditional rowing power, China is shaking up the ranks in this sport. Improving its rowing team is an important of China's effort to top the medal standings at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, since the sport offers 14 gold medals.Behind the leadership of former Soviet coach Igor Grinko, China has gone from a team that won four Olympic medals between 1932 and 2004, to a serious threat at this year's games. At a World Cup regatta in Lucerne, Switzerland, last weekend, China won five golds out of the 14 events, and took seven total medals home.
In this New York Times blog entry, Juliet Macur quotes Grinko addressing the belief commonly held among the Chinese themselves that the Chinese body is just not powerful enough to excel at certain sports: "Before, they were thinking that a Chinese man's body is not made for rowing, that the back wasn't strong enough. But now? They are strong and fit. Now they can see gold medals."
Also from the New York Times, this story takes a good long look at why and how China has built up its rowing program.
Tags: Igor Grinko, national team, Olympics, rowing
China Basketball Sweeps Memphis, 3-0
Monday, 2nd June 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
China Sports Today had an editor there on assignment for the Memphis Commercial-Appeal, attending practices and sitting behind the Memphis (Conference USA) bench.
Our exclusive report is coming up soon, but for now, here are links to the two stories for the Commercial-Appeal:
C-USA team loses to China
Chinese wallop C-USA in Finale
For even more on the trip, check out sports writer David Scott's daily blog about the team's China experience on and off the court.
Tags: basketball, Memphis, national team
USA Dishes China its First Loss in Basketball Test Tournament
Friday, 25th April 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
Thanks to fast break buckets, unchallenged second shot opportunities and skillful post moves from Leslie and Fowles, the United States scored a lot of its points in the paint and kept its two-point field goal shooting percentage at a high 59 percent.
China played like a well-coached team made up of talented athletes who have played basketball since they were 10 to 12 years old. They made their cuts and set their screens, shot 50 percent from the three-point line and made 75 percent of their free throws. But the US team looked like a group of women who have been dribbling as long as they have been walking. They easily broke China's press and put on a clinic on how to execute low-post moves. They dominated the boards, 48 to 31, and also had three players combine for six blocks.
"We should have done better although we are not as good as them in strength and talent," China's Chen Xiaoli said after the game.
If the USA revealed weaknesses, they would be free throw shooting (64 percent) and three-point shooting (3-for-11).
The Chinese fans continued to show the sportsmanship that they have throughout the tournament, cheering not just for their team but also for particularly impressive plays by the opponent. They have, however, picked up the practice of harassing the free throw shooter with a chorus of boos.
For American fans, it was the first test event that gave them a chance to see some athletes who are household names in the United States—veterans like Leslie and Kara Lawson and rising stars like soon-to-be WNBA rookies Fowles and Candice Wiggins.
"I'm from Connecticut and getting tickets to women's basketball games there is next to impossible," said one Beijing resident. A friend of hers, a fellow expat from Minnesota, said she especially enjoyed the chance to see Team USA compete, since she'd been unable to secure tickets to the Olympic tournament.
The Chinese and American fans get one more look at their teams this Saturday, when the two go head-to-head one more time for the tournament championship.
"We know it's going to be a big game with China the day after tomorrow, so we are really focused today," said USA head coach Anne Donovan.
Image: Good Luck Beijing
Tags: Anne Donovan, basketball, Bian Lan, China, Good Luck Beijing, Lisa Leslie, national team, Sylvia Fowles, USA
China Beats Cuba, Will Face USA Tonight
Thursday, 24th April 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
The Chinese team came out looking a little timid against the stronger Cubans, pulling out on fast break opportunities and fading away on shots inside the paint. But the team began spreading the floor, moving the ball and knocking down threes. Minor injuries to point guard Yamara Amargo Delgado and explosive small forward Suchitel Avila Cazanas helped dampen Cuba's comeback efforts and China coasted to the win.
China's high scorers were Chen Xiaoli with 17 points and Miao Lijie with 15. The team was perfect from the line at 16-16.
Tonight, China faces the United States, who are 3-1 in the tournament and coming off of a 78-60 rout of New Zealand in which they rested their starters for most of the second half. The game starts at 8:00 and tickets can be bought at Wukesong Basketball Arena for 20, 40 or 60 yuan. Whoever loses tonight will get another shot at their opponent in a higher-stakes game this weekend. The teams will face each other again in the tournament final at 8:00 on Saturday, April 26.
To get to Wukesong（五棵松）take the Line 1 subway to the Wukesong stop. The arena is to the northeast, past the baseball stadium.
Tags: basketball, Cuba, Good Luck Beijing, national team, Olympics, women