Results tagged “sports”

Hint: Tiger Woods is not one of them. Check out the whole list here.

The past couple of days, traffic to China Sports Today 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? But If you came to find out about the volleyball player who was kicked off the Chinese national team for being black, you won't find what you're looking for because it didn't happen.

Oh no, it looks like Yao Ming hasn’t bought the Shanghai Sharks after all. Instead, all they’ve signed on to be is an “entrusted investor” for the next five years. Despite agreeing in July to transfer stakes in the Sharks to Yao, it seems that those stakes will now be sold on the open market. But those who worry that this just means even more disappointments for Sharks fans needn’t: Yao has said that even though he’s not the owner, he’ll be doing everything he can to improve the team’s performance.

The WGC-HSBC Champions tournament is starting up tomorrow, and today, the big players were on the China publicity warpath by doing their mandatory "Look at us! We're taking part in Chinese culture!" bit. The part of Shanghaiist that's actually interested in this sport says this happens every time pro-golfers come into town: three years ago there was a ping pong match.

And he got the characters right. 冠軍 means "champion" (he's using traditional characters). The other side says "Chatty." According to Artest's Twitter page, Chatty is the name of a friend who passed away. On Twitter, Artest also says he flew in Boogie the barber from Orlando for the cut and paid him a hotel room plus $20. Artest and the Lakers begin their quest to prove the left side of his head correct at 10:30 am Shanghai time against, fittingly, the Clippers. Source: Ball Don't Lie

We're too much of pansies to navigate the Shanghai streets by bike ourselves, but if you're an avid city cyclist with a penchant for competitiveness, check out this crazy little race we came across: Shanghai Alleycat.

Yi Jianlian is so excited about not being forced to play in the Chinese National Games that the guy’s actually playing some good basketball. He scored 21 points and grabbed 11 boards in an exhibition game against the New York Knicks last Friday. In the Nets’ two previous games, against the Boston Celtics, Yi went for 20 and 8 in the first, but just 2 and 4 in the second.

Any lingering hopes of adding to their rather bare trophy cupboard were extinguished for another year on Saturday, when Shanghai Shenhua could only tie their derby match 1-1 with Hangzhou Greentown FC. (video highlights)

One of the tightest Championship finishes in the history of world football - that's the situation Shanghai Shenhua find themselves in as the CSL 2009 season enters its closing stages this weekend. Not since 2005, when Gamba Osaka won the J-League by one point ahead of four other teams on the last day of the season, has football seen such a thrilling championship finish.

China's national games haven't even officially started yet, but they are already the backdrop for an ugly scandal in one of the country's most treasured sports. Don't worry--diving queen Guo Jingjing's piles of Olympic gold aren't in jeopardy. But the integrity of the sport's biggest domestic competition was shaken when a referee quit working the national games because, she says, the result are all fixed.

The NBA is touching down in China this weekend, with the Indiana Pacers and Denver Nuggets playing a preseason game in Beijing. Ahead of the game, the league issued a press release that it decided to call "Bryant's jersey remains top seller in China."

• Prepare to fight China, Qaeda figure tells Uighurs [Washington Post] "A prominent al Qaeda militant urged Uighurs in Xianjiang to make serious preparations for a holy war against "oppressive" China and called on fellow Muslims to offer support. Abu Yahya al-Libi, in a video posted on an Islamist website on Wednesday, warned China of a fate similar to that of former communist superpower, the Soviet Union, which disintegrated some two decades ago."
• Inside the Ring [Washington Times] "China's most senior military intelligence official, a veteran of spy operations in Europe and cyberspace, recently made a secret visit to the United States and complained to the Pentagon about the press leak on the Chinese submarine that secretly shadowed the USS Kitty Hawk aircraft carrier in 2006. Maj. Gen. Yang Hui said senior Chinese leaders suspected the Pentagon deliberately disclosed the encounter as part of a U.S. effort to send a political message of displeasure to China's military."
• A Beautiful Life: Mean Streets and Meaner People [NYTimes] "It takes nerve to award Bai Ling a singing role in a serious drama, but nerve may be the one thing “A Beautiful Life” does not lack. Set among the mean streets and meaner people of downtown Los Angeles, this laughably clichéd dive into sexual masochism and hardscrabble survival replaces story with outline and characters with place holders. No wonder Ms. Ling’s breasts are the most animated objects on screen."

What's with superstar athletes dropping out of Shanghai sporting events? First Usain Bolt doesn't show up to the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix, and now the number one ranked tennis star Roger Federer has pulled out of the Shanghai Masters event next month. Federer, citing fatigue, pulled out of both the Shanghai event and the Japan Open, but had some nice words of consolation for both cities, stating "I am disappointed that I have to withdraw from Tokyo and Shanghai as they are two of my favorite cities in the world and the fans have been great to me over the years." We're sad we have to miss out on yet another superstar coming to Shanghai. Photo: swampa @ flickr

After all the success of the NBA in China, other American sports leagues are dying to get in on the Chinese sports market. The NFL came up with a kitschy Football-related reality TV show to win the hearts and minds of the populous, but the MLB is kicking it up a notch: they're actually letting people play baseball to get them to like it! The League has started summer sports camps around China, but they're hoping their new baseball development center at Dongbeitang High School will pay off with some major league material in time. In a country like China where baseball is a completely foreign sport, it's probably the best way, don't you think?

We reported on Liu Xiang's comeback at the Golden Grand Prix last weekend, but we were so distracted by his Christ-like stigmata pose that we didn't actually think to look on Chinese video streams to watch the magic moment happen.

Yesterday's action at the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix was nearly record breaking. American sprinters Tyson Gay and Carmelita Jeter stole the show from hometown favorite Liu Xiang with the second fastest men's and women's 100m races in history. Liu still held his own and then some, tying times for first place with American rival Terrance Trammell, but only receiving credit for second place. Still, Liu's trainers were impressed with his results, and expect a full return to health and glory in the near future. We're excited, Liu Xiang's sponsors are excited, and, judging from the advertisements in today's papers, so is Liu. Is it just us, or does his Christ-like pose seem like it's heralding the second coming? Photo from Danwei.org

                      

Eight Asian teams competed in last weekend's Shanghai Sevens International Rugby Tournament as rugby continues to make the case that it should be added as an Olympic sport. In the end, South Korea was victorious over Japan in the finals, with China's Hong Kong, Taipei and Mainland teams coming in 3rd, 4th and 5th respectively.

What do the NFL, small Chinese children, and a Taiwanese rock band have in common? Absolutely nothing, until the NFL decided to embark on its latest effort to make professional American football popular in China.

There are few sporting spectacles which rouse passions as much as a football match between two great rivals, and Saturday night's grudge game between Shanghai Shenhua and Beijing Guoan, in the Jing-Hu Dazhan (京沪大战) , was no exception.

If you've caught Golden Grand Prix excitement, you may want to try your hand (well, your feet) at Shanghai's Toray Cup. The international race offers a full and half marathon, as well as a health race for the shorter winded. Of course, Usain Bolt won't be there, but you can consider it training for your shot at next year's Grand Prix, or even the 2010 Asian Games.

As is done every Fall, the Shanghai Softball League is getting ready for their second season of the year. This year, August 23 marks the beginning of an eleven-week race for the Cakey Cup, the league's championship trophy. It's currently sitting at the Boxing Cat Brewery.

Our neighboring city Hangzhou's Xixi Wetlands played host this last weekend to the finals of the Hangzhou Xixi International Dragon Boat Match.

This week: Chill out with some live jazz, rock out with some funky beats at Shelter, then cheer on Shanghai Shenhua before eating some good ol' American grub at the Bulldog.

                           

The Irishness of Shanghai spiked this past weekend as Gaelic football players and their fans from all over the country converged at the 7th All-China Gaelic Games on Saturday. Held at the Shanghai Rugby Football Club in Waigaoqiao, Pudong, the Shanghai Saints and Sirens faced old rivals from Beijing, Dalian, Hong Kong, and Shenzhen, as well as newcomers from Changsha and neighboring Suzhou. The Shanghai ladies won the women's bracket, capturing the coveted cup for the first time in their club history. In the men's final, Hong Kong defeated Shanghai to win the men's cup.

Forget about snapping up cheap U.S. real estate--Kenneth Huang and his cash-rich Chinese partners are about to make history and change the game for the Cleveland Cavaliers by purchasing a stake in the NBA franchise.

This is an advertisement. International sports marketing agency headquartered in Shanghai is offering unique work opportunities to three youth basketball coaches from North America. Right candidates must possess varsity basketball playing experience at the high school (minimum) or college level (preferred) and be a native English speaker. Chinese language skills not required. Duties include youth basketball coaching, marketing and program operations. One-year work contract includes free housing, competitive salary, performance bonus, and China work visa. Internship position is also available. Please send CV to wes@zoumarketing.com. More job ads. Place a job ad.

Back in 2007 Shanghaiist's Hélène survived the Great Wall Marathon. Following in her footsteps, we decided to give it a try. But we decided that running 21 k (the half marathon) was plenty exercise for us on a Saturday morning.

Tension will fill the air this evening at Hongkou Football Stadium when China meets Japan in a major continental club football competition. Shanghai Shenhua play host to J-League Champions Kashima Antlers in the Asian Champions League in an all-or-nothing encounter which will decide who qualifies for the knockout rounds.

    

Last week, China's diving team announced that it would skip the upcoming FINA Grand Prix in Fort Lauderdale due to swine flu fears.

Already properly leaked, rumored and reported, the International Federation of PGA Tours made it official Tuesday morning at a press conference at the Shangri-La Hotel in Pudong: Shanghai's HSBC Champions golf tournament has been elevated to World Golf Championship status. To many in the golf world, this immediately makes the HSBC event, which has called Shanghai home since its 2005 debut, the most prestigious golf tournament outside of the United States and the United Kingdom. That China — which opened its first golf course in 1984 and currently has no professional golfers in the global top 100 — has been chosen as the locale for such an event speaks volumes about China's role in the current global marketplace. It's also a strong indicator that golf's governing bodies realize globalization, with Asia being the primary focus, is the key to the sport's survival in an increasingly harsh economic environment.