Among the challenges the NBA faces in holding games in China, or otherwise taking advantage of the league’s huge popularity here, is a lack of venues equipped to host NBA events. As has been expected, the league is making big moves to remedy that situation, with a joint venture with Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) to develop…
Author: chinasportstoday
Liao Guiming wins Omega Order of Merit
Despite finishing 17th at the season-ending Omega Championship in Beijing last week, Liao Guiming (廖贵明) finished first in this year’s Omega Order of Merit, the ranking system for China’s pro golf circuit. Liao finished the season with 375,125 yuan in prize money, putting him about 45,000 yuan ahead of second place finisher Zhang Lianwei and more than…
Yao quitting the Chinese national team?
Chinese media (beginning, reportedly, with Shanghai’s Oriental Sports Daily) began reporting earlier this week that Yao Ming had announced plans to quit the Chinese national team. The center has since denied the reports to the Houston Chronicle. But his denial wasn’t too forceful. “I haven’t announced that,” he told the Chronicle. “I think now there is no national team…
Yi-haw: Texas, the NBA’s most Chinese state
After a pair of strong performances with the Dallas Mavericks’ D-League team, Yi Jianlian has been called back up to play with the big boys. Yi posted double-doubles (17 points, 11 rebounds; 29 points, 13 rebounds). The defending champion Mavs are Yi’s fourth NBA team in five seasons. He shines in international play, but has never developed…
Spring Training in Beijing
The two-game Beijing spring training series between Major League Baseball’s San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers ended this weekend with a 3-3 tie on Saturday and a 6-3 Padres’ win on Sunday. The teams played to a not-quite-full house in Wukesong Stadium, the 12,000-seat venue that will host Olympic baseball in August. The double…
Loisel Escaping the Axe?
Going into the East Asian Cup, Chinese media was abuzz with the inevitability of the demise of Elisabeth Loisel, the French coach brought in last fall to replace her Swedish predecessor as head coach of the women’s national soccer (football) team. In the weeks leading up to the cup in Chongqing, she’d been fined by…
Yao-ch!
Yao Ming will miss the remainder of the NBA season because of a stress fracture in his left foot, the Houston Chronicle reports. He was averaging 22 points and 10.8 rebounds per game and the team’s record was 37-20. Yao has had an injury-plagued career. Last year he missed 32 games with a leg fracture; the…
Yao’s Impact on Reebok
With Yao Ming missing the rest of the NBA season, the first two questions most sports media asked was how this would affect the Houston Rockets’ playoff chances, and whether the center would be healthy in time for the Olympics. Now sports marketing media are reacting to the news, speculating what this means for Reebok,…
Key Women’s Volleyball Players Back in Action
Middle blocker Zhao Ruirui and setter Feng Kun are back in action with the Chinese women’s volleyball team, after knee injuries that have kept them sidelined for about a year in Feng’s case, and almost four in Zhao’s. The 6’5″ (1.97-meter) Zhao, the team’s linchpin, has not seen much action since leading the team to…
Women’s Soccer Slumping, Coach’s Future in Question
China’s women’s soccer (football) opened the Algarve Cup in Portugal by suffering a 4-0 rout by the U.S. team, and followed that with losses to Norway and Italy. The poor performance has brought on renewed calls for the head of coach Elisabeth Loisel. From Xinhua: French coach’s days appear to be numbered Image: BOCOG Tags: football, Loisel, soccer, women