Category: Sports

(Xinhua)14:40, January 11, 2021

BEIJING, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) — Chinese footballers Tang Jiali and Wu Haiyan are among the 10 candidates for the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Best Womens Player in 2020 award, the AFC revealed on Sunday.

Tang bagged four goals in the Steel Roses Tokyo Olympic qualifying campaign against Thailand, Chinese Taipei, and Australia, while captain Wu was the backbone of the teams defensive line. Wu also led Wuhan Jiangda to the 2020 Chinese Womens Super League title with nine clean sheets in 13 matches.

Japans Saki Kumagai, Yuika Sugasawa, and Rikako Kobayashi as well as Caitlin Foord, Ellie Carpenter, and Sam Kerr from Australia, and two South Korean players Ji So-yun and Jang Sel-gi are also on the list.

The AFC also published a 20-man list for the Best Young Player in 2020 last Wednesday, which includes Real Madrids loan player Takefusa Kubo of Japan and South Korean prowess Lee Kang-in who plays for Spanish La Ligas Valencia.

According to the AFC, the awards have been named as Asias Choice – Fan Awards, with 60 percent of the votes to be supplied by the direct participation of fans on the AFC website. The winners of the awards will be revealed on January 24.

(Peoples Daily Online)09:41, January 06, 2021

Beijing’s ice and snow sports industry is thriving as the city is in full swing preparing to host the 2022 Winter Olympics.

Vanke Shijinglong Ski Resort in Yanqing, a competition zone of the 2022 Winter Olympics, receives flocks of ski enthusiasts during weekends.

An aerial photo taken with a drone on Dec. 11, 2019 shows Genting Snow Park in Chongli, north Chinas Hebei Province. (Xinhua/Yang Shiyao)

The resort has seen an increase of 17 to 20 percent in the number of tourists every year starting in 2016 when Beijing began to popularize ski and ice sports, according to Liu Yingkai, general manager of the resort.

This winter, the resort set a 1,500-people limit on the number of tourists allowed to enter per day. In the first two weeks following the opening of the resort in November 2020, by Thursday tickets had already sold out for Saturday. In addition, tickets for ski trails for training purposes were fully booked 10 days after they were released, Liu said.

There has been a significant increase in the sale of ice and snow equipment, and half of the ski enthusiasts would like to use their own equipment, according to Liu. The sales volume of ski equipment, priced between several hundred to several thousand yuan, at a shop in Vanke Shijinglong Ski Resort, doubled, he introduced.

A ski equipment market in Ciqikou of Beijing is enjoying prosperous business thanks to the popularity of ice and snow sports. Home to more than 30 stores, the market sells snowboards, snowshoes, ski wear, protective clothing, snow goggles and backpacks.

According to a shop owner from the market, the shop’s total sales of ice and snow equipment and its chain shops surpassed 20 million yuan in October 2020, with the figure doubling in November, and continuing to rise in January 2021.

Some shopping centers in Beijing have built indoor skating rinks to attract ski enthusiasts. In addition, more and more international ice and snow equipment brands have opened stores in Beijing, including KJUS ski and golf apparel from Switzerland and Mackage from Canada.

(Xinhua)11:12, January 06, 2021

LANZHOU, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) — After his final school examination of the semester, Gao Zezhi, a primary student from Jingtai County of Baiyin city, rushed out to enjoy his skiing lesson in northwest Chinas Gansu province.

At the beginning of their winter vacation, many local students like Gao came to the Yellow River Stone Forest resort to practise skiing.

I like skiing very much, because skiing makes me feel braver, Gao said after his ski class.

The Yellow River Stone Forest resort was built along the Yellow River in Jingtai County, with facilities including cross-country skiing and biathlon venues.

The resort can receive over 1,000 skiers every weekend, said resort manager Gou Faxia.

With the outbreak of COVID-19, the company suffered heavy losses in 2020, and the resort was shut for nearly one month. However, booming business in the new year kept Gou confident, as she believed the impact of the epidemic would only be temporary.

This business will be better in 2021, Gou added.

Like Gou, Chinas winter sports practitioners are now looking ahead to the Beijing Olympic Winter Games in 2022.

Since last month, two different ski resorts have opened in Gansus Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture, giving sports lovers in northwest China more choices for skiing.

Hai Yun, director of Linxias Administration of Sport, said that the local government hoped to involve more than 100,000 students in winter sports.

In the future, we will hold different winter sport events for young students, and we will look to cultivate winter sports talent, said Hai.

(Xinhua)11:16, January 08, 2021

GENEVA, Jan. 7 (Xinhua) — Chinese volleyball stars Zhu Ting and Ding Xia have been named in a FIVB list that features 100 key players and teams that have influenced and enraptured the volleyball world over the past decade.

A feature article titled Zhu Ting is Chinas guiding light was posted Thursday on the FIVB website.

It may appear that Zhu Ting has plenty to contend with as she chases a second Olympic gold medal and MVP title at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, but that has not stopped the Chinese superstar from adding the task of obtaining a masters degree in history after she enrolled in Beijing Normal University in September, read the FIVB article.

It is an appropriate subject for the 26-year-old to study considering she has spent the past decade establishing herself among the greats of volleyball history, someone that will be spoken about and studied for many years to come.

Having made her China debut aged 18 in 2013, Zhus performances when China won gold at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 2016 propelled her into a global volleyball star and one of her countrys most popular athletes.

Her story of growing up as one of five daughters on her parents farm in Zhudalou, a small village in Chinas central Henan Province captivated volleyball fans and her performances at the Japan 2018 FIVB Volleyball Womans World Championship and 2019 World Cup, where coach Lang Pings side won bronze and gold, increased her popularity further still.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic Zhu has been working hard behind closed doors along with the rest of the Chinese team.

Recently she spent eight weeks on the side-lines while she recovered from an injury to her right wrist but is confident that it will not take her too long to return to her best.

In 2015, setter Ding Xia was a squad player for China, used mainly for impact from the bench to give the star players a breather. By 2019 though she was a star, a mainstay of Lang Pings side and voted onto the tournament Dream Team after helping China win gold at the FIVB Volleyball Womens World Cup.

Ding is a firm fixture in the China team that will be aiming to defend their Olympic title at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

The Roster 100 list features one hundred key players and teams that have influenced and enraptured the volleyball world with their achievements and stories over the years spanning from 2010 to 2020, the FIVB said.

Volleyball World has looked back over numerous competitions to select some of the biggest stars from each continent, read a FIVB statement.

Apart from the Chinese duo of Zhu and Ding, Japans Saori Kimura, Serbias Tijana Boskovic and Phil Dalhausser of the United States have also been named in the Roster 100 list.

(Xinhua)10:22, December 31, 2020

CHANGCHUN, Dec. 30 (Xinhua) — Chinas ice and snow industry reached 423.5 billion yuan (about 64.85 billion U.S. dollars) by the end of 2019, said a report released at the ice and snow industry expo in northeast Chinas Jilin Province.

According to the report, Chinas ice and snow industry has developed rapidly thanks to the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. The scale of the industry has increased from 117.7 billion yuan in 2013 to 423.5 billion yuan in 2019.

The number of ice and snow venues and facilities has also increased significantly. As of June 2019, there were 388 indoor skating venues in China.

A total of 20.9 million skiing trips were made by the end of 2019, surpassing countries with mature ski markets such as Canada and Sweden.

(Xinhua)16:47, December 29, 2020

BEIJING, Dec. 29 (Xinhua) — As the sporting year draws to a close, here is Xinhua News Agencys selection of the top 10 Chinese sports personalities of 2020:

1. Zhang Weili (female, mixed martial arts)

30-year-old Zhang, Chinas first-ever UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) world champion, retained her strawweight title with a split decision victory over Joanna Jedrzejczyk in the United States on March 7.

2. Gu Ailing (female, freestyle skiing)

In January, 17-year-old Gu took two golds in the womens Freeski halfpipe and big air events at the Winter Youth Olympic Games in Lausanne, Switzerland. The following month, Gu topped the podium twice in the womens halfpipe and slopestyle event in FIS Freeski World Cup in Calgary, becoming the first freestyle skier to win back-to-back titles in one World Cup competition.

3. Chinas womens basketball team

On February 8, China edged Spain 64-62 in the FIBA womens Olympic qualifying tournament in Belgrade, Serbia, securing a berth at the Tokyo Olympic Games with three consecutive wins.

4. Ju Wenjun (female, chess)

29-year-old Chinese chess grandmaster Ju defended her title at the 2020 womens World Championship in Vladivostok, Russia, defeating 21-year-old challenger Aleksandra Goryachkina 8.5-7.5 on January 24.

5. Sui Wenjing/Han Cong (female/male, figure skating)

Chinas Olympic silver medalists Sui and Han won their sixth ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships pairs gold medal in Seoul, South Korea, on February 8.

6. Ke Jie (male, Go chess)

In November, 23-year-old Ke became the youngest Chinese Go player to win eight world championship titles. It was also his fourth title at the Samsung World Go Masters. Days later, he made the final of the LG Cup for the first time.

7. Chinese Mountaineering Team

The Chinese Mountaineering team reached the summit of Mt. Qomolangma in May, with their 150-minute stay the longest in Chinese history.

8. Liu Guoliang (male, table tennis)

Chinas 44-year-old table tennis chief Liu was named chair of the newly-formed World Table Tennis Council on June 29, with ambitions of making table tennis one of the worlds leading sports. In November, the ITTF womens World Cup opened in Weihai City on Chinas east coast, signaling the return of international table tennis tournaments amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

9. Xu Jiayu/Yan Zibei/Zhang Yufei/Yang Junxuan (swimming)

The Chinese quartet broke the world record in the mixed 4x100m medley relay with a time of three minutes 38.41 seconds at the Chinese national swimming championships on October 1, beating the previous record by 0.15 seconds.

10. Chen Meng (female, table tennis)

World No. 1 Chen, 26, beat her compatriot Sun Yingsha 4-1 to win her first ITTF womens World Cup in November. Two weeks later, she became the first player ever to win four ITTF Finals titles in a row.

(Xinhua)13:13, December 28, 2020

BEIJING, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) — China has formally criminalized doping after its top legislature voted to adopt Amendment XI to its criminal law on Saturday.

The historic move in Chinas anti-doping fight took place when the Standing Committee of the National Peoples Congress voted to add the amendment to Article 355.

It stipulates that anyone who lures, instigates, or cheats athletes into using banned substances in either domestic or international competitions faces up to three years imprisonment and a fine. Heavier punishments will be given to those organizing or forcing athletes into using banned substances, while knowingly offering banned substances to athletes is also a criminal offense.

The law isnt aimed at athletes, because cheating athletes will be punished by bans and fines in accordance with the anti-doping rules, explained Chen Zhiyu, executive director of China Anti-Doping Agency (CHINADA).

This criminal law is more focusing on punishing those behind the scenes as it has been widely recognized athletes entourage usually play an important role in doping schemes and should be given more severe punishments, he said.

If not for the criminal punishments, the entourage could still secretly work with athletes even after they are banned and fined, Chen added.

As far as expert Yu Chong is concerned, the new law is a response to both the International Olympic Committee (IOC)s call and several executive anti-doping rules, including Chinas Anti-Doping Regulation, launched in 2004.

At its 5th summit in October 2016, the IOC urged to make the entourage of athletes, including coaches, doctors, physiotherapists, and other officials, to be held criminally responsible for facilitating doping.

It shows Chinas efforts to meet the IOCs requirement, said China University of Political Science and Law deputy professor Yu Chong on Monday.

At the same time, it links criminal law and executive regulations in the fight against doping, he said.

The executive anti-doping rules usually ban, fine or fire entourage involved in doping and also stipulate they could be subject to criminal punishment if what they do is a crime.

With the new law, such clause is no longer a scarecrow, Yu said.

The amendment represents Chinas latest anti-doping measure. In November 2019, the countrys Supreme Peoples Court announced judicial interpretations on the application of criminal law in handling cases related to doping, which went into effect on January 1, 2020. The State Council launched the Anti-Doping Regulation in 2004.

The amendment will take effect on March 1, 2021.

(Peoples Daily Online)13:59, December 28, 2020

E-sports has been named as a full medal event for the 2022 Asian Games, after the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) General Assembly approved its place on the program on Dec. 16, 2020. This move will help promote the overall growth of the e-sports industry and drive the integration of the industry chain, according to industry experts.

A young player competes in an e-sports event in Taicang, Jiangsu province.(China Daily/Ji Haixin)

The actual sales revenue of Chinas e-sports game market will reach 136.6 billion yuan (about $20.9 billion) in 2020, an increase of 41.8 billion yuan compared with that in 2019, with a year-on-year increase of 44.2 percent, according to a report jointly released by the game publishing working committee of the China Audio-video and Digital Publishing Association and the China game industry development research institute.

The report further pointed out that in 2020, the number of users of Chinas e-sports games will reach 488 million, a year-on-year increase of 9.7 percent.

Traditional sports industry has been battered by the onset of the COVID-19 outbreak this year, whereas, e-sports, by taking its unique advantage, emerges as one of the pillar industries for the economic development of many cities.

China boasts more than 10, 000 e-sports enterprises at present, with more than 200 cities currently developing in the industry. Among them, Shanghai is working hard to become the world capital of e-sports,鈥?followed by other Chinese cities including Beijing, Guangzhou, Chengdu and Haikou.

These cities seek to get in-depth deals with more e-sports manufacturers and clubs, focusing on the development of fields such as industrial incubation and personnel training.

As e-sports has become an Asian Games medal sport, it is making a tremendous positive impact on the whole e-sports industry,鈥?said Du Mingjiang, vice president of Bixin platform, one of Chinas earliest providers of e-sports training partners.

From experts perspectives, the naming of e-sports as a full-medal event for the 2022 Asian Games will propel the growth of the market size, as the industry has ushered in a phase of rapid development after e-sports became a demonstration sport in the 2018 games.

(Xinhua)16:27, December 28, 2020

BEIJING, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) — Here is Xinhua News Agencys selection of the 10 most significant pieces of Chinese sports news in 2020, in chronological order:

– Eleven football clubs were disqualified from Chinas professional leagues on May 23 due to wage arrears, while five other clubs disbanded over financial problems.

– The Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) league resumed on June 20 after a nearly five-month hiatus, followed by the start of the 2020 Chinese Super League (CSL) season which witnessed Jiangsu Suning emerging as the new champion. The ITTF Womens and Mens World Cup events and the Finals were staged in China in November, marking the first competitions to be staged in the country featuring overseas players.

– Chinas table tennis chief Liu Guoliang was named chair of the newly-formed World Table Tennis Council on June 29, aiming to make table tennis one of the leading sports in the world. After a stellar playing career, in which he won Olympic and World Championship gold medals, Liu has since overseen serial success as head coach of the Chinese national team and as Chinese Table Tennis Association president.

– Chinese badminton legend Lin Dan announced his retirement on social media on July 4, ending an illustrious career at the age of 37. One of the most outstanding players in badminton, Lin has won 20 major titles including two Olympic golds, and five world championship titles. He also helped China win six Thomas Cup and five Sudirman Cup titles.

– Despite the challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, Chinas preparations for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games progressed steadily. Construction of all the competition venues and related infrastructure will be completed by the end of this year. The past few months witnessed a number of milestones, such as the launch of a global competition for the medal, torch, and apparel designs. More than 960,000 people worldwide have registered to volunteer during the Games. Beijing 2022 has signed up 38 sponsors and suppliers in total to date.

– Renovation of the Workers Stadium in Beijing started in early August. The stadium, which was first built in 1959, will be transformed into a professional football arena and put into use in December 2022. It was a landmark building in the Chinese capital and hosted the first National Games.

– Two guidelines were issued by the Chinese government in September and October to strengthen campus sports and ensure the health and fitness of students. Chinas southwestern Yunnan province took an initiative, as it announced in October, that it would increase the ratio of PE performance in the high-school entrance exam.

– On October 20, a conference was held in Beijing on the adjustment and reform of Chinas military sports, marking significant changes in the function, scale, and structure of Chinas military sports teams. Those teams will no longer participate in comprehensive sports meetings or individual sports competitions on a national level.

– The 2023 AFC Asian Cup Local Organizing Committee was officially established in Beijing on October 22. China was awarded the hosting right of the 2023 AFC Asian Cup on June 4, 2019. The tournament will take place from June to July in 10 cities – Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Chongqing, Chengdu, Xian, Dalian, Qingdao, Xiamen, and Suzhou.

– China aims to become a sports powerhouse by 2035 and gave strategic priority to ensuring peoples health and all-around development, according to a blueprint passed at the fifth plenary session of the 19th Communist Party of China Central Committee in October.

(Xinhua)16:32, December 28, 2020

BEIJING, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) — The past year has been one like none other for the sporting world. Lets take a look back at the events that have defined this turbulent period.

Here is Xinhua News Agencys selection of the 10 most significant pieces of international sports news in 2020, in chronological order:

– The 3rd Winter Youth Olympic Games were staged in the Swiss city of Lausanne, the Olympic Capital, between January 9-22. China dispatched 53 athletes to participate in 57 events, claiming three golds, four silvers, and five bronzes at what was considered the most significant international winter sports event before Beijing 2022.

– On January 26, retired NBA mega Kobe Bryant was killed in a helicopter crash above Calabasas, southern California. The only team he had played for throughout his NBA career, the Los Angeles Lakers, beat the Miami Heat in the Finals to win a record-equaling 17th NBA champions on October 11. On November 25, Argentine football legend Diego Maradona died of a heart attack at his home, aged 60. Maradona participated in four World Cups with the Argentine national team, among which the 1986 World Cup was remembered as his masterpiece. He played every minute of every game, scoring five goals and making five assists to lead Argentina to the champion.

– Despite the disruption of its 2020 calendar, several world records fell in track and field during the year. On February 8, Armand Duplantis cleared 6.17 meters in Torun, Poland, to set the indoor world record in mens pole vault, and went on to clear the bar of 6.18m at the Glasgow Grand Prix of World Athletics Indoor Tour one week later. The Swede also produced the highest ever mark in an outdoor event as he cleared 6.15m at the Diamond League meeting in Rome on September 17.

On February 21, Venezuelan triple jumper Yulimar Rojas set a new world indoor record by jumping 15.43 meters at the World Athletics Indoor Tour meeting in Madrid.

On August 14, Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda clocked 12 minutes 35.36 seconds in the mens 5,000m at the Diamond League in Monaco, improving Ethiopian legend Kenenisa Bekeles 16-year-old world record by 1.99 seconds. Cheptegei also broke the 10,000m world record in an event dubbed as World Record Day in Valencia, Spain, on October 7. The event also witnessed a new world record set by Ethiopias Letesenbet Gidey in womens 5,000m.

– Five-time Grand Slam winner Maria Sharapova of Russia announced her retirement from professional tennis at 32 on February 26, followed by NBA star Vince Carter (June 25), Chinese badminton icon Lin Dan (July 4), and Spanish goalkeeper Iker Casillas (August 4).

– On March 24, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee jointly announced that, in view of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Tokyo Olympic Games were rescheduled to a date beyond 2020 but not later than summer 2021. It is the first time that the modern Olympic Games being postponed since the birth in 1896, although they have been canceled in 1916, 1940 and 1944 due to World War I and World War II. A string of other international sports events including footballs European Championships were either postponed or canceled due to the pandemic.

– On June 25, Liverpool secured the Premier League title with seven games remaining, ending a 30-year league title drought. On August 23, Bayern Munich was crowned the 2019/2020 UEFA Champions League winners after defeating Paris Saint-Germain in the final, finishing the European elite club competition with a perfect record in 11 matches. Bayern Munich also won the Bundesliga and German Cup titles, achieving a treble for the second time in club history.

– Despite the challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, Chinas preparations for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games progressed steadily. Construction of all the competition venues and related infrastructures will be completed by the end of this year. The past few months witnessed a number of milestones, such as the launch of a global competition for the medal, torch, and apparel designs. More than 960,000 people worldwide have registered to volunteer during the Games. Beijing 2022 has signed up 38 sponsors and suppliers in total to date.

– On October 11, Rafael Nadal lifted his 13th title at Roland Garros, equaling Roger Federers mens all-time record of 20 Grand Slam singles titles. On November 4, the Spaniard became the fourth player in history to reach 1,000 Tour-level wins at the ATP Paris Masters, joining Jimmy Connors, Federer, and Ivan Lendl.

– On December 7, breaking, skateboarding, sport climbing, and surfing were confirmed as additional sports to be added to the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. Weightlifting had four events removed from the Paris 2024 program, with its quota reduced to 120 athletes from 196 at Tokyo 2020.

– On December 24, the Swiss Federal Tribunal set aside a previous ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to ban Chinese swimmer Sun Yang for eight years and ordered the case back to the CAS to render a new award. In February, CAS found the three-time Olympic champion guilty of refusing to cooperate with sample collectors during a visit to his home in September 2018. The World Anti-Doping Agency brought the case to the CAS after the world swimming governing body FINA had issued Sun Yang a warning.