The Beijinger Blog - Snooker

Talking Balls: Ding's Derby Ding-Dong & Media Humiliates Child Footballers

thebeijinger — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 18:00:00 +0800

"Let's start at Old Trafford, and a debut goal from Neil Webb." These were the opening words on Goals Galore 1989/90 - the season that Manchester City famously humiliated Manchester United 5-1 at Maine Road. Fittingly, Talking Balls starts this week at Old Trafford in the week in which United were humbled 6-1 at home. Snooker whizz Ding Junhui was at the seven-goal thriller and his reaction to the game on Sina Weibo sparked internet fury. Chinese reds thought that the cuesmith was being sarcastic and Ding wasn't standing for it. Read all about it here on China Daily but don't miss the bit where a friend of Ding's says that the star "loves Wayne Rooney very much."

Talking Balls: Brawling Ballers, Goal Grabbing Goalies and Talented Teenagers

thebeijinger — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 18:00:00 +0800

The big sports story comes from the CBA. China’s Basketball Association is currently in the best-of-seven series finals. Guangdong Hongyuan took a 2-0 lead in the CBA final against Xinjiang Guanghui at home with a 85-80 win. Then things got interesting. Du Feng of Guangdong got into an altercation with Xinjiang’s Charles Gaines. The Guangdong player aimed a headbutt at Gaines and was swiftly dealt a blow to the temple. The punch knocked Du out. A Guangdong fan then tried to take on Gaines and general mayhem ensued while the stadium announcer appealed for calm. To see the fight click here, here or here. The CBA are set to fine both players.

Talking Balls: Frustrated Ding, Crazy Wei and Left-out Ross

thebeijinger — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 16:00:00 +0800

Local hero Ding Junhui fell at the final hurdle in the 2010 Sanyuan Foods China Open. Mark Williams beat Ding 10-6 after coming from behind to win his first ranking title since 2006. The home crowd were understandably disappointed – their shouts of "Ding, kill him! Finish him!" had no effect on the outcome.

Talking Balls: Patriots, Stars and Subsitutes

thebeijinger — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 16:00:00 +0800

Tickets are now on sale for the Sanyuan Foods China Open 2010. That’s snooker for the uninitiated. Tickets are priced at RMB 20-2,010 and available by clicking here. To have a look at the schedules and find out when you might see Ronnie O’Sullivan click here.

There’s been more fall-out from the Winter Olympics. Gold medal winner Zhou Yang has come under fire for thanking her parents when everyone knows that you should thank your country above all. To remind her of this was State Sports General Administration deputy director Yu Zaiqing who said “Thanking your parents is not a problem, but should thank the country first. Must put the country first, don’t just thank your parents and that’s it.”

Talking Balls: Dopers, Dopes and the Dopey Looking

thebeijinger — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 16:30:00 +0800

Remember Mohamed Kallon? The former Inter Milan star was banned for eight months in 2003 for testing positive for Nandrolone and then ended up setting up his own club back in his native Sierra Leone. Well Mr. Kallon no longer plays for the egotistically named Kallon FC, no, he’s back in the big time … at Shaanxi Neo-China Chanba. Joking aside, Kallon was one of the brightest talents in the world game and at 30 years-old his signing has placed Shaanxi as favourites for the CSL title. Bad luck for Beijing’s hopes of retaining the trophy.