Wang Meng, China’s most decorated Winter Olympian (4G, 1S, 1B), is out of the 2014 Olympics in Sochi after fracturing her ankle on Thursday. The short track speed skater won three of China’s five gold medals at the Vancouver Olympics in 2010 (500m, 1000m, 3000m relay), which won her CCTV’s Sports Personality of the Year award, and she was hotly tipped to add to that tally in Sochi.
All posts by Mark Dreyer
Ping pong boss to China: starting losing please!
It used to be that sports were run by sportsmen and women. But then, as is often the case, money got in the way and sports became more “professional”, so “professionals” were hired to run the sports.
For example, the head of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) used to be former star Chinese player Xu Yinsheng, until he was replaced in 1999 by a “professional”, an electrical engineer called Adham Sharara. The Egyptian-born Canadian also played on the national team for three years, but his biography makes it clear he is a career administrator who played, rather than top player-turned-administrator.
15 years later, Sharara is still in charge and coming out with gems like this:
Continue reading Ping pong boss to China: starting losing please!
Li, Zheng progress, Peng Shuai ignored [UPDATED]
Li Na cruised through to the third round of the Australian Open on Wednesday with a 6-0, 7-6 win over Swiss teenager Belinda Bencic, while Zheng Jie had a tougher battle, eventually downing American Madison Keys 7-6,1-6, 7-5. But for all the talk about China’s new generation of tennis players (here and elsewhere), Li and Zheng were the only two to make it out of the first round – from the eight who made the main draw.
Continue reading Li, Zheng progress, Peng Shuai ignored [UPDATED]
Mixed fortunes for China at Australian Open
China had a record eight players in the singles draw for the Australian Open. Of the five who played on Day 1, there were wins for Li Na (vs 16-year-old Croatian Ana Konjuh) and Zheng Jie (vs 12th seed Roberta Vinci), while wildcard playoff winners Wu Di and Tang Haochen both lost, as did Zhang Shuai, who had ended 2013 so well.
Continue reading Mixed fortunes for China at Australian Open
Welcome to China Sports Insider
New Year, new site.
Welcome to the new incarnation of The Li-Ning Tower, which will soon automatically redirect here. A relaunch and rebrand has been a long time coming, but the main points are that the blog will no longer:
- run afoul of China’s always stringent copyright laws
- be inaccessible on the Chinese mainland
- indirectly promote a sinking ship
- be far too obscurely titled
Please bear with us as some older features are reintroduced and some new ones are phased in, but rest assured that the content will follow on from 2013’s success, during which the blog was quoted or linked to by Bloomberg, USA Today, Huffington Post, CNBC, Quartz, New York Daily News, NBA.com, Al Jazeera, China Daily and others.
Rare FIFA wisdom for Chinese soccer
Guangzhou Evergrande’s recent Asian Champions League victory gave Chinese soccer fans something to smile about again, even if the national team – comprised of many of those same Evergrande players – has yet to follow suit.
The ACL win gave Guangzhou entry into this year’s FIFA Club World Cup – a tournament in which, essentially, the UEFA Champions League winners get another meaningless trophy. Continue reading Rare FIFA wisdom for Chinese soccer
China blamed for cyclist’s positive doping test?
Team Sky long ago set out their stall as being whiter than white in the historically murky world of cycling, and there has been no evidence of any impropriety by any of their riders while at Sky. But two riders with links to the team are in a bit of trouble right now. Current Sky rider Jonathan Tiernan-Locke is being investigated for an anti-doping violation dating to before he joined the team, and now Michael Rogers, who rode at Sky in support of Bradley Wiggins’ 2012 Tour de France victory but left shortly after admitting his past involvement with the Doping Doctor Michele Ferrari, has been provisionally suspended for testing positive for clenbuterol.
His excuse is pathetic. In a seven-sentence statement, the third and fourth ones are key: Continue reading China blamed for cyclist’s positive doping test?
Leo’s coming to Beijing!
Leonardo DiCaprio is on his way to Beijing. That’s because the Hollywood heartthrob has co-founded the tenth and final Formula E team – the new electric race car series backed by the FIA, which kicks off in the Chinese capital next year.
No fairytale ending for Masters star Guan in Hong Kong
Chinese golfing prodigy Guan Tianlang made global headlines in April by becoming the youngest golfer ever to make the cut in a major championship, aged just 14. Now at the grand old age of 15, Guan was again competing against the pros last week, this time at the Hong Kong Open.
Continue reading No fairytale ending for Masters star Guan in Hong Kong
China’s long road to the Winter Olympics
With Olympic visas already in force, it’s clear we’re in the final run-up to the Sochi Olympics. But as one cycle nears completion, another one is just starting. The quest to host the 2022 Winter Olympics has begun with six bids from Europe and Asia – including a Chinese bid from Beijing & Zhangjiakou – competing in a fascinating battle between traditional and developing winter sports markets.
