2011 Apr 09 Talking Balls: Read All About It - Weekend Sports Shorts
China’s men went out to hosts Canada in the quarters of the World Curling Championships. There is still no word on when and where the Chinese National Championships will be held in Beijing this month.
Sun Yang and Liu Zige got close to Asian records at the Chinese Spring National Championships. The swimmers will be heartened by their displays in the lead-up to Shanghai-held World Championships.
Liverpool FC – now partly owned by LeBron James – will play a pre-season game in Guangzhou this summer. They will not be parading any trophies with them on their Asia tour, which also takes in Seoul and KL. "Whenever we go to Asia, the fans are always amazing," said Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard. We hope that Guangzhou nightclubs are willing to play Sussudio for him.
In other Liverpool news, the boss of their major sponsors, Standard Chartered, has suggested that the club invest in some Asian players. Gavin Law, group head of corporate affairs for the bankers, offered "We would love the club to have players of nationalities from the markets in which we operate. They are not going to get them from all 75 but if they could sign some – if they could get a Korean, Indian, Chinese player – look what Park [Ji-sung] has done for [Manchester] United in terms of coverage in Korea.” And bankers wonder why nobody likes them.
China's Zheng Jie was ousted by Australian Roland Garros finalist Samantha Stosur 6-2, 6-1 in the second round of the WTA and ATP Miami Masters on Thursday. Peng Shuai has reached another quarter-final this season. Her incredible run continues against Shania Mirza at Charleston tonight.
Modern Lei Feng has gone Guoan mad, again, and that’s a good thing. Here’s his preview of the squad for the season and a refreshingly biased match report on the opening weekend 2-0 win away at Jiangsu Sainty. The Imperial Guard play Hangzhou Greentown on Sunday at the Workers’ Stadium. Goals from last week below.
China's Ye Liying captured the $50,000 Shanghai Classic on Sunday by five shots, effectively ending a winless streak by Chinese players on their domestic women’s tour dating back to 2009.
Schalke 04 pulled off the result of the round in their QF clash against the most popular team in China, Inter Milan. The Royal Blues beat the Nerazzurri 5-2 away at the San Siro after going a goal behind in the first minute. The reason this is big news in China? Hao Junmin of Schalke was on the bench and if the Germans qualify for the next round he’ll get a chance to play in the Champions’ League semi-finals. This would be the highest level of football ever played by a Chinese player. In other Hao news, the winger was subject to lots of seeming April Fools regarding a transfer to Sporting Lisbon. No rumour was as silly as Huang Bowen to Arsenal though.
Who’s going to save Chinese soccer? Zhou Peng. The soccer fan has been kneeling outside Henan Jianye’s ground and asking for a trial. He’s quoted as saying "I want to join Jian Ye club. You don't even need to manage me. I will organize my own training and I guarantee that in four years time I will be the best player in the club. I can save Chinese soccer." The 19-year-old previously tried the same line at grounds in Shandong, Shanghai and Beijing. Henan are said to have granted him a trial.
Ding Junhui made it to the semis of the China Open. The portly potter lost to losing finalist Mark Selby by three frames to six. Selby was trumped in 10-8 the showpiece by Judd Trump. Ronnie O'Sullivan has not updated his Sohu.com blog since November and he was not on the poster for the China Open - has China's love affair with him come to an end?
The CBA is reaching a peak and with it so are the most successful team of recent years, Guangdong. They hammered Dongguan by 56 points in a record-breaking 146-88 thriller. This comes as the other likely championship candidate (and champions elect based on their unbeaten regular season) Xinjiang has begun to struggle. Both were on the cusp of the finals on Friday night where a win each would have sealed their passages.
And finally, it’s the Shanghai Grand Prix next week. Remember that you don’t pronounce the X no matter how apt it might be for the host city. If you don’t want to leave the confines of Beijing for your motorsports then go to Goldenport Track Day next Saturday – we’ll have more details next week.
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Talking Balls: Li Na Loses, Fights at the Football & Olympic Scandal
China's best tennis player ever, Li Na, crashed out of Wimbledon at just the second round. The number three seed lost to Germany's Sabine Lisnicki - whose victory marked a remarkable comeback from a career-threatening ankle injury - after winning the first set and being 5-3 up in the third set.
That was not all that Li lost at the All England Club. She also managed to misplace her husband who stormed out of Centre Court during the middle of the second set. Li, as always, reacted to the inevitable questions in the post-match press conference with the quotes we have come to expect:
Journalist: "Have you found your husband yet?"
Li Na: "I don't know where he was going, so when I find him I will tell you"View From Gongti: Beijing Guoan 0-0 Liaoning Whowin
After a long international break, Beijing Guoan was back in action Saturday night at Worker’s Stadium as they faced off against Liaoning Whowin in an important late season match. While Guoan no longer has a chance at the title, with only eight matches left in the season, they are fighting to keep hold of second place, giving them entry in next year’s Asian Champions League.
Talking Balls: Scandals, Spaniards, Schoolkids and Swamp Soccer
AC Milan beat their city rivals Inter 2-1 to win the Supercoppa Italiana at the Bird's Nest. Second-half goals from Zlatan and Kevin Prince Boateng sealed a comeback from Wesley Sneijder's first-half free kick. The rossoneri were deserved winners but the game may ultimately be overshadowed by the actions of Alexandre Pato. The Brazilian's gesture (shown above) was beamed live on CCTV. The Internet has already started calling for his blood. Whether it's racist or not, it is another addition to a long list of foreign sportsmen behaving inappropriately in China.
View From Gongti: Beijing Guoan 2-1 Jiangsu Sainty
Beijing Guoan’s unbeaten streak reached 13 games last night as Xu Liang’s pair of goals led the capital side to a 2-1 victory over Jiangsu Sainty. It was another night of quality football in front of a very passionate Workers' Stadium crowd. "Passionate" can be taken literally: Gongti has become a popular destination to propose, with at least three proposals in the stands last night.
Talking Balls: Obscene Wages, Dirty Laundering, Golden Grandpas & Shakehands Vs. Penholders
Who are the three most highly-paid soccer players on the planet? Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are the first two but the third is a little more shocking. It is none other Dario Conca. The Argentine midfielder – who has never been capped by his country – has moved from Brazilian giants Fluminense to Guangzhou Evergrande for a CSL transfer record of GBP 10 million. More ridiculously, he is earning GBP 6.4 million per year in wages. Lucky boy.
