The first event of the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia begins in about twelve hours, with the opening ceremony happening on Friday at 8 pm Sochi time (midnight for those in China). By now you've probably already decided to watch on the decent chance that it becomes a delightful disaster, but lost in all the stories about stray dogs, toilets, substandard facilities and Potemkin villages is the fact that sports will be on display.
After sitting out more than two months with an injury and missing 22 games, Beijing Ducks superstar point guard Stephon Marbury returned to the court last night against the Shandong Flaming Bulls in his team's first game of the new lunar year.
It was an eventful night, to say the very least.
In last year's Australian Open Final, Li Na repeatedly halted play for the eager crowd of tennis aficionados. Not that they minded. Alongside her game, she endeared herself to the tennis public following a couple of ankle rolls, a clutzy head bang, and her comical approach to a concussion test.
China, your girl is the crowd favourite.
The above was tweeted by Sports Illustrated's Jon Wertheim a couple of days ago. Take a look at that Rolex ad on the official website of the Australian Open, which reads, "Rolex congratulates Li Na on winning her first Australian Open and second Grand Slam title."
We hope Li Na doesn't believe in jinxes, because she plays this afternoon against Dominika Cibulkova for a chance to win her first Australian Open and second Grand Slam title. The game is at 4:30 pm local (China) time.
Last night, the Dongguan Leopards beat the Sichuan Blue Whales 137-135 in Wenjiang District Stadium in Chengdu, but to say "Dongguan" won is really to diminish the efforts of one individual, Bobby Brown, who took half of his team's 104 shots and made exactly half of them to finish with 74 points. He also led his team with 10 rebounds and 4 assists. Bobby Brown earned his post-game star.
The champs of Asia lost to the champs of South America on Saturday in the 3/4 game at the FIFA Club World Cup. It was fantastic from the get-go. Both Atletico Mineiro and Guangzhou Evergrande scored early (Atletico's Diego Tardelli, 2'; Guangzhou's Muriqui, 9') before Guangzhou took the lead on a 15th minute penalty. But then, in first-half extra time, Atletico's Ronaldinho -- the Ronaldinho, known as "Small Lo" in China (not to be confused with "Big Lo," i.e. [now-fat] Ronaldo, or "C Lo," who is Cristiano Ronaldo) -- did this:
European champs Bayern Munich made easy work of Guangzhou Evergrande yesterday in the semifinals of the FIFA Club World Cup, played in Morocco. Three goals within a seven-minute window (Franck Ribéry 40′, Mario Mandzukic 44′, Mario Götze 47) provided the final 3-0 margin.
The CBA is back, and thank goodness. As featured on Deadspin, here's Ivan Johnson, 29, doing a celebratory dance that in the NBA would have set him back 15 grand, because no one in corporate appreciates the Big Balls Dance.
This was ugly. The Sichuan Blue Whales, playing its first CBA game in 15 years, having just been promoted from the second-tier National Basketball League in September, lost by 53 points on Friday. The previous CBA record for most lopsided season-opener was a mere 40 points, nearly 25 percent less than Sichuan's deficit.
China are champions! Okay, no, it's Guangzhou Evergrande, but judging by some headlines, you'd think this country's united in its support of the new AFC Champions League winners. As if a Real Madrid fan would ever care about Barca in the UEFA Champions League. As if this country's soccer fans weren't, in actuality, cynical and parochial, likely more so than Philadelphia Eagles supporters.
China wants the Olympics again. Beijing and Zhangjiakou submitted a formal nomination letter to the IOC on Sunday to joint host the 2022 Winter Olympics, according to Xinhua. If chosen -- a decision should come in 2015 -- Beijing would be the first city to have hosted a Summer and Winter Games.
"His shooting is perfect," said a fan at the MasterCard Arena (Wukesong) in Beijing on Tuesday before the Golden State Warriors tipped off against the Los Angeles Lakers. He was talking, of course, about Steph Curry.
Taiwan's basketball team has done it again. For the second time in two months, it erased a double-digit second half deficit en route to an upset of China.
The Houston Jeremy Lins played the Indiana Pacers in an exhibition in Taipei on Sunday, and as you might expect, a capacity crowd was firmly behind the Jeremy Lins from the start. Some highlights are above.
Tracy McGrady appears to be unhappy with reports in Chinese media -- from late-August, it seems -- that his asking price to play in the Chinese Basketball Association this season was $2 million.
On Sunday, the 25-member Chinese Basketball Association committee unanimously approved the league's newest team, the Sichuan Blue Whales, who will begin play this fall. Last year the Whales competed in the National Basketball League, China's second-tier basketball association, and finished fourth with a 12-6 record.
The China Open tennis tournament began in Beijing over the weekend, but before the games that counted, there was this, a "Battle of the Sexes" between the world's top player, Novak Djokovic, and China's very own Li Na.
There's a chance you've known this for a while, since it was first reported on September 6 (by Indo-Asian News Service, of all places), but Li Na will face Novak Djokovic in a "battle of the sexes" on September 27 to mark the 10th year of the China Open at Beijing's National Tennis Center. It's a wonderful little PR stunt, pitting the world's top-ranked men's player against the women's No. 5 playing in her home tournament.
