Olympic Sailing Star Meets Peng Shuai in Shanghai

Happy New Year to all my readers and thanks for following, listening and reading throughout 2021. The 2022 Beijing Olympics begin exactly one month from today, and the Closed Loop Management System (aka the Olympic bubble) went into operation this morning.

This week on the China Sports Insider Podcast we spoke to Chinese Olympic sailing champion Xu Lijia, who won gold in the laser division at the 2012 Olympics in London, where she also carried the flag for China at the Closing Ceremony. She had some fascinating things to say about her career and about China’s state-run sports system in general. She was also pictured in Shanghai recently alongside Yao Ming, table tennis champ Wang Liqin, and people’s favorite Peng Shuai in what was clearly a staged photo shoot. I asked her about that and for her thoughts on Peng in what has become our most listened podcast so far! Full blurb below:

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NHL Pulls Plug on Olympics & Coach Grignard Talks Tennis in China

After months of negotiations over whether NHL players would be going to the Beijing Olympics, COVID-19 stepped in and made the decision for them: NHL players will not be playing. Despite a provisional agreement last summer between the NHL and the Players’ Association, there was always a get-out clause if the pandemic caused too much schedule disruption this season, and with Omicron ripping through the league, in the end there was no other choice. If there’s a silver lining, it’s that the misinformation over China’s quarantine rules (discussed in last week’s show) didn’t cause the players to pull out by themselves, but, as a hockey fan, I was really looking forward to seeing the NHL players here.

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Up close with Stephon Marbury, plus NHL’s Olympic scare stories

This week on the China Sports Insider Podcast we sit down with basketball star Stephon Marbury – arguably the most famous foreigner living in China, where he’s been for more than a decade. It’s a wide ranging chat about his current coaching duties in the CBA bubble, the upcoming Olympics, his career in China, plans for the future, and more, so please give it a listen.

But before the chat with Marbury, we focus on the latest Olympic ice hockey news. With COVID-19 again ripping through much of the western world, it’s increasingly likely that the NHL’s schedule will be disrupted to such an extent that the league may prevent its players from going to the Olympics, because it will need the scheduled three-week break to catch up all the postponed games. But if that doesn’t happen, the players should still travel with confidence, despite all the misinformation bouncing around North American media. We break down what’s true and what isn’t, and what NHL players can expect when they get to Beijing.

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Olympic “Boycott”, Hockey Showdown & the CSL Returns To Action

Episode 11 of the China Sports Insider Podcast features:

  • The latest on the Olympic ice hockey drama – the Chinese men’s team is now confirmed to be in, so what does that mean come February?
  • The US announces a diplomatic boycott (read “boycott”) for the 2022 Games; we discuss what that means in practical terms.
  • And with the Chinese Super League returning this weekend after a four-month break, we speak to Tariq Panja from The New York Times and Nikki Wang, formerly an adviser to the CSL with Deloitte, on the overall state of Chinese football and how things got so bad.

Click through to hear the show (full blurb and timestamps below). Please leave feedback in the comments!

Continue reading Olympic “Boycott”, Hockey Showdown & the CSL Returns To Action

Hockey Drama and Steph Hsiao Talks NFL in China

Episode 10 of the China Sports Insider Podcast is another packed show, in which we tackle tennis, F1, and ice hockey, plus hear from Steph Hsiao about the NFL in China.

This coming Monday, December 6, should see some sort of announcement over the make-up of the Chinese men’s Olympic ice hockey team for Beijing 2022 – as well as a final decision on whether or not China will get kicked out and replaced by Norway. After literally years of wrangling over the citizenship issue – i.e. how to recruit foreign-born players for Team China – sources from inside the camp indicate that this decision is coming right down to the wire. Simply put, some players are more comfortable signing away their existing citizenship in exchange for a Chinese passport than others – but the exact make-up of the roster could dramatically affect how China fares against the NHL’s best next February. Listen to the show directly on the player below or go to our landing page on SupChina here. It’s also available on all the usual podcast sites (search “China Sports Insider Podcast”).

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More Peng Shuai, Olympic Boycotts and Esports in China

Listen below to the latest edition of the China Sports Insider Podcast. It’s been taking me a little while to get the latest episodes up on here (apologies for that), so if you want to get the new shows as soon as they come out, please subscribe via your preferred podcast player.

Continue reading More Peng Shuai, Olympic Boycotts and Esports in China

Peng Shuai’s “Statement” and What it Means for Tennis in China

If you haven’t had a chance to listen to the podcast yet, I’d really suggest you check this one out (see embed below). The is the eighth one we’ve done and it’s the best one yet. For a start, there’s a LOT going on right now! The Peng Shuai saga has completely blown up everywhere (except for China of course, where it’s heavily censored), Zhou Guanyu is set to make history as China’s first F1 driver as he will partner Valtteri Bottas at Alfa Romeo next season, there’s been a dramatic reversal from the International Ice Hockey Federation which could still lead to China getting kicked out of the Olympics, and we talk to Rowan Simons – who’s been inside the Chinese soccer world for more than 25 years. Full blurb below:

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Podcast: Jon Howse Talks Hockey Development in China

Jon Howse may just be the best hockey player currently based in China, although his minor league career in North America was cut short by concussions. He’s been coaching here since 2015 and had a ton of stories for us on the podcast – including, most shockingly, how he witnessed a coach “dropkick” an eight-year-old kid in the stomach. Fortunately, abuse like that is on the way out, Howse says, but it does still happen.

We wrapped up all the week’s stories before diving into a lengthy chat with Jon. All the info is below.

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Introducing the China Sports Insider Podcast!

Apologies for the lack of posts in recent weeks: a combination of travel (including a LOT of quarantine), plus other work priorities, have kept me from the site. I’ve been working on two other sports projects in particular, the first of which I’m happy to announce below, with a second, much larger one coming later in the year!

I’ve teamed up with Haig Balian, host and producer of The Beijing Sessions podcast series, to put together the China Sports Insider Podcast, which we will release weekly. We had a soft launch a few weeks ago, but we’re now on the SupChina podcast network, so you can find all back issues of the show and subscribe here. It was also great to be on the Sinica stream for the first episode with host Kaiser Kuo and his tens of thousands of listeners.

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Confirmed: NHL Stars Set to Play at 2022 Beijing Olympics

With five months to go until the 2022 Winter Olympics, one big question that has loomed large over the Games has now been answered – NHL players will again be back at the Olympics having been forced to skip Pyeongchang in 2018. That means Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin, Connor McDavid, Auston Matthews and many more will actually be in Beijing – and soon! Let’s take a look at what this means – for the players, for the Olympics and for hockey fans worldwide.

Continue reading Confirmed: NHL Stars Set to Play at 2022 Beijing Olympics

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