China volleyball idol brings it back home
Friday, 5th February 2010 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
Evergrande women's volleyball club celebrates its 12-0 season
Full disclosure: CST editor Maggie Rauch was hired to handle public relations for the Evergrande-USA Volleyball Challenge.
On February 2, the U.S. women's volleyball national training team lost to the Evergrande volleyball club, 3-0, in a match at Guangzhou Gymnasium. The team, coached by Hugh McCutcheon, who won gold with the US men's team in 2008, faced "Jenny" Lang Ping, the 1984 gold medalist for China who led the US women's team to a silver in Beijing.
It was a tough loss for the U.S. team, which dropped the middle set 25-12, but it was mostly made up of new players, and winning a volleyball match was not the trip's only purpose.
Before the game, the US team spent five days training and facing intense media interest in a country that fell in love with volleyball after its women's team won Olympic gold in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. A dinner at the US consul general's private residence and a big Chinese banquet with top volleyball officials were also on the team's itinerary.
Guangzhou's U.S. Consul General, Brian Goldbeck, praised the event for promoting friendly ties. With relations between the United States and China strained of late (need I mention the Internet censorship debate, furor over arms sales to Taiwan, President Obama's plans to meet with the Dalai Lama, and the dispute over the RMB's valuation?) this past week was a good time for a little sports diplomacy. And volleyball is a fitting sport to serve this purpose, as the US and China women's teams have a healthy rivalry that's about 30 years old, the same age as diplomatic ties between the two nations.
USA Volleyball coach Hugh McCutcheon talks with Chinese media
The match followed a successful 12-0 season for the Evergrande team, which moves from Division B to Division A of the Anta China Women's Volleyball League. Evergrande Real Estate Group founded the team in the fall of 2009, investing 20 million yuan (about $3 million). It managed to lure one of China's most recognized sports figures, Lang Ping, over from her home in Southern California to coach the team.
The presence of Lang and the financial backing of Evergrande allowed the team to bring on a trio of national team players from China's 2008 Olympic bronze medal-winning team—Feng Kun, Zhou Suhong and Yang Hao. Two of America's best—Nicole Davis and Christa Harmotto—rounded out a squad that dominated the league.
The Evergrande team is the first of its kind in China, as the others are all controlled by state sports administrations. Its games aired on prime time national television, significantly raising the profile of volleyball, already a popular sport in China. The buzz around Lang (nicknamed the "Iron Hammer" during her playing days) revealed big hopes for the growth of the league and development of the sport in China. At press conferences for the event, she frequently deflected questions about herself as a "savior" of the sport in China.
Lang said that for the level of play to improve and energy around the league to grow, more international players would be needed. "When Nicole and Christa get on the court, the whole team atmosphere changes," she said of her two American players. "There is more passion. Chinese volleyball needs more international players. The different styles of play would invigorate the game here." She referenced the international nature of the world's top league in Italy, where she won a championship with only one Italian player on her team.
With the state sports administrations so heavily involved in the league, it's unlikely that Lang's vision of a truly international Chinese league will be realized soon. But she pointed out that in the Chinese Basketball Association, the presence of just two foreign players on each team has helped generate interest.
Related:
SCMP: Foreign players the answer if China wants best league (subscription required—free trial)
China Daily: Guangdong side urged to build up reserves
Tags: Christa Harmotto, Evergrande volleyball, Feng Kun, Hengda volleyball, Hugh McCutcheon, Nicole Davis, volleyball, Yang Hao, Zhou Suhong
Ding Hui: Still Chinese, still black, still playing volleyball
Thursday, 5th November 2009 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (4)
The past couple of days, traffic to this site from people searching for "Ding Hui" has seen a little uptick. Could it be a coincidence that a recent story in The Guardian said that Ding Hui, the Chinese national volleyball team's first black player, was booted from the national team last year, implying that it was because Ding Hui is black?
Here's the passage in question, from The Guardian's Stephen Vines:
"A stark reminder of official racism came last year when Ding Hui, of mixed Chinese and African parentage, was barred from representing his country in the national volleyball team." (China's black pop idol exposes her nation's racism)
In fact, Ding Hui was selected for the training group for the Chinese national team in the spring of this year (African-Chinese athlete picked for national volleyball team). Coach Zhou Jianan had high praise for his play, saying he was one of China's top five players. But Ding's skin color and mixed parentage (his mother is Chinese, father is South African) attracted more media interest. The 20-year-old Ding Hui, the first black player to get a spot on any Chinese national team, competed for Zhejiang in the national games.
Ding Hui is part of a small but growing minority in China—people with one Chinese parent and one black parent (often African) who grow up side by side with children whose appearance is more consistent with what is generally considered Chinese. Another such young person is Lou Jing, who recently made waves when she made it to the late stages of a Chinese reality show competition called "Go! Oriental Angels." (NetEast interview with Shanghai Black Girl Lou Jing)
It seems likely his career with the Chinese national team will go forward and include major international competition. As it does, Ding Hui will certainly be in a different sort of spotlight than his teammates.
Ding Hui's presence on the national team has the potential to improve or worsen China's issues with racism—and it will probably do a little bit of both. On the one hand, it reinforces stereotypes of African blood endowing people with exceptional athletic gifts—and, conversely, Asian blood being a distinct disadvantage in that area. On the other hand, his presence in the public eye will make more people aware that people like him do exist, do speak native Chinese (media repeatedly remark that both Ding and Lou speak Chinese, and only Chinese), and absolutely expect and deserve an active role in Chinese society—including representing their country in athletic competition.
History has shown the sports world to be a place where a society can make progress on some of its problems surrounding race. At its best, sport is an equalizer, where people who would otherwise keep their distance come closer, at least for a few hours at a time. And the end goal—a world championship, a gold medal—becomes so important that coaches, teammates, and team administrators are willing to set aside some of their insecurities to move toward it.
If Ding Hui makes the lineup for the London Olympics in 2012, he will be in a global spotlight, and millions of people around the world will ask the same questions a lot of Chinese are asking now: "Black AND Chinese? Is that even possible?" This should result in a batch of stories in international media about what it means to be black and Chinese, on the situation of Africans living in China, about evolving Chinese perspectives on race. Some of these stories will be nuanced and thoroughly reported, and some will fail miserably as they try to impose American (or British, or French, etc.) history and culture on the situation in China. Hopefully most of them will at least stick to the facts.
Ding Hui image: CCTV Sports
Tags: Ding Hui, Lou Jing, race, volleyball
Good News, Bad News in Chinese Sports World
Tuesday, 15th September 2009 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
When China loses to tiny countries in most team sports, it comes as no surprise. But women's volleyball is supposed to be the exception, the team sport that brought China its first team sport gold medal in 1984 and produced one of its most successful sports exports, Jenny Lang Ping, until recently head coach of the U.S. women's team. That history just adds to the sting of China's 3-1 loss to Thailand at the Asian championships over the weekend. Thailand was seeded third in the tournament, so they didn't exactly come out of nowhere, but they have never won an Asian championship before and didn't even qualify for the 2008 Olympics, where China won bronze against a tough field. Xinhua called the final "thrilling,", but Thailand won each of the last two sets by a margin of 25-19.
Image: English.cri.cn
Good news in track and field: Liu Xiang's return
Liu Xiang will compete at next week's Shanghai Golden Grand Prix (September 20), lacing up his racing shoes for the first time since he limped and winced his way out of competition at last year's summer Olympics. Liu, one-time world record holder, world champion and Olympic champion in the 110-meter hurdles, is the only Chinese man to ever win Olympic gold in a track event and by far the country's most visible athlete product endorser. Liu's camp is managing expectations, according to this report from the Wall Street Journal. Liu made his announcement after it became clear that the event's reigning Olympic champ and world record holder, Cuba's Dayron Robles, wouldn't be making the trip to Shanghai. Robles pulled out of World Championships in Berlin last month due to a hamstring injury. The new world champ is Ryan Brathwaite, a 21-year-old Barbadian who ran a 13.14 in Berlin. World runner-up, American Terrence Trammell, is also considered a threat to Liu.
Bad news in track and field: A Bolt-less Grand Prix in Shanghai
Usain Bolt, the hottest name in track and field, won't compete in Shanghai next week, and is also skipping an upcoming competition in South Korea. The Jamaican sprinter says he's suffering from fatigue—too many chicken nuggets? It's disappointing news for Chinese fans, and a little puzzling given that returning to China to compete should only help him sell more Puma shoes here.
Good news in basketball: Sun Yue gets a break
The New York Knicks have signed Chinese guard Sun Yue to a non-guaranteed contract, according to multiple media reports. Sun's had a rough NBA run, though we suspect it's been a smoothed a bit by the fact that he garners a little more attention in China for any team that gets involved with him. The Lakers drafted him in 2007, but he didn't get a contract until after the Beijing Olympics. He played in 10 games for the Los Angeles Lakers last year in his rookie season, averaging less than one point, and was relegated to the D-League in March.
Tags: athletics, basketball, Liu Xiang, Shanghai Golden Grand Prix, Sun Yue, track and field, Usain Bolt, volleyball
African-Chinese athlete picked for national volleyball team
Thursday, 16th April 2009 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (1)
Ding, who is 20 years old and 1.85 meters (just over 6 feet) tall, grew up with his mother in Hangzhou and was enrolled in a sports school at a young age, says this article from Tencent Sports. He began playing volleyball for the provincial youth team in 2003 and joined the junior national team in 2004.
While Chinese media are showing a lot of interest in Ding's unusual background he, unsurprisingly, just wants to focus on volleyball. Below is our translation of part of a recent interview he did with 163.com Sports (full interview in Chinese here):
163.com sports: Because your father is African, it seems that your situation is unique. How do you feel about it?
Ding Hui: I want to say that I am Chinese. I grew up in China, so for me to represent the national team in competition is very normal.
163.com: Perhaps it's because of your appearance (skin color) that everybody is curious about you. How do you feel about it?
Ding Hui: I don't want everybody to just see this about me, to pay so much attention to my appearance. I don't think too much of this. Being selected for the national team is a very rare opportunity, and it hasn't been easy. Everyone I'm playing with now is at a very high level, and I'll have to put in a lot of effort in practice and matches.
Ding Hui: I want to say that I am Chinese. I grew up in China, so for me to represent the national team in competition is very normal.
163.com: Perhaps it's because of your appearance (skin color) that everybody is curious about you. How do you feel about it?
Ding Hui: I don't want everybody to just see this about me, to pay so much attention to my appearance. I don't think too much of this. Being selected for the national team is a very rare opportunity, and it hasn't been easy. Everyone I'm playing with now is at a very high level, and I'll have to put in a lot of effort in practice and matches.
Ding joins a team of 18 players, of whom eight are returning players from the
team that was eliminated from the 2008 Olympics by silver medalists Brazil.
Related Links:
163.com: China's Top 8 Half-Breed (sic) athletes
Danwei: First Half-African, Half-Chinese Volleyball Player
FIVB: Black athlete Hui Ding becomes China's new sporting star
Chinese Volleyball Association: China national men's volleyball team roster
Ding Hui image: sports.163.com
Tags: Ding Hui, race, volleyball
Olympic marketing: How did sportswear brands do?
Friday, 29th August 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
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.
Adidas' Olympic sponsorship allowed it to use the Bird's Nest and Olympic logo.
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's storefronts were generic during the games, but there was nothing generic about its opening ceremony product placement.
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.
Nike hedged its big-name bets by backing lesser-known athletes as well.
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.
Tags: Adidas, athletics, Beijing Olympics, Hu Jia, Li-Ning, Liu Xiang, marketing, Nike, Olympics, Puma, Speedo, Sui Feifei, swimming, Tian Jia, Titan, Usain Bolt, volleyball, Wang Fei, Zhang Lin, Zheng Zhi, Zou Shiming
Field hockey China's last chance for team gold
Friday, 22nd August 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
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
Tags: basketball, Beijing Olympics, field hockey, Miao Lijie, Olympics, Tom Maher, volleyball
In the gym and on the beach, China's women still in the hunt for volleyball gold
Thursday, 21st August 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
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
Tags: Beijing Olympics, Olympics, Tian Jia, volleyball, Wang Jie, women's volleyball, Xue Chen, Zhang Xi
Women's volleyball face USA tonight
Friday, 15th August 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
In its match against the USA tonight, China faces coach Lang Ping, a key player on China's 1984 gold medal-winning team. She is known in the United States as "Jenny," and despite leaving China to coach one of its volleyball rivals, remains beloved on the mainland.
A win tonight against the Americans or Sunday against Japan would clinch China's spot in the next round. China hopes a little home advantage in these Olympics will help it repeat its Athens gold medal performance, but competition is fierce this time around, with Brazil as the favorite and five other teams seriously challenging for medals. Olympic volleyball, like basketball, begins with two six-team pools, whittled down to an eight-team playoff after each team plays five games.
Here are China's leaders in four statistical categories over three games (more stats available here):
Spikes
1. Wang Yimei – 39
2. Zhou Suhong – 24
3. Ma Yunwen – 24
Kill blocks
1. Ma Yunwen – 11
2. Zhao Ruirui – 7
3. Feng Kun – 4
Aces
1. Zhou Suhong – 7
2. Ma Yunwen – 5
3. Zhao Ruirui - 3
Digs
1. Zhang Na - 41
2. Zhou Suhong – 36
3. Feng Kun - 18
Image: BOCOG
Tags: Beijing Olympics, Olympics, volleyball, Zhao Ruirui
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