Who's hot, who's not in China Sports (Dec3-9)

Hot

JR Smith

52 points, 22 rebounds, 7 steals, all being his career highs, Smith had a monster game in Zhejiang Golden Dragon's win against the Bayi Rockets in the sixth round of Chinese Basketball Association. In the 17-year history of the league, no one, except Yao Ming, has even been near his numbers with the three categories combined. Four days later he scored 44 points and 10 rebounds in another Zhejiang victory over the Jiangsu Dragons.

As much as he is feeling it in China, rumor has it that he, along with Zhejiang Lion's Wilson Chandler and other NBAers who used CBA as a shelter during the NBA lockout, is seeking a way out of China in order to return to the US. In that case, they will probably have to give back all the salary they made, plus agent fees and an additional $1 million to satisfy owners, and most crucially, letters of clearance from the CBA, which has been reluctant to allow players to leave.

 

Nicolas Anelka

It's no secret that Chinese football club Shanghai Shenhua is in pursuit of Chelsea striker Nicolas Anelka. Sources say the deal is on the verge of being done and the Frenchman is expected to receive a three-year, $30-million contract. According to a spokesman from the club, the negotiation is in the final phase, and fans will have the results next week.

 

Cai Zhenhua

Cai Zhenhua, vice-minister of General Administration of Sport of China, is expected to take over the position of chairman of the Chinese Football Association from retired predecessor Yuan Weimin later this month, according to a Soccer News report. The move is deemed as an intensified effort by Chinese sports authorities to revive the nation's football hopes, which have been stagnant due to a variety of negative factors, including scandals of match-fixing and bribery in the past decade.

 

Not

Shangguan Pengfei

This is terribly sad news. Shangguan Pengfei, a free combat player from Henan, is fighting for his life after suffering continuous hard hits by his opponent from the police force team during a national kungfu tournament on Oct 31. His condition remains critical after a month of medical treatment. And his girlfriend reveals on Monday that Shangguan's brain cells are dying and they can only hope for a miracle. The incident also triggered hot online debates over the existence of fighting games.

(you can review the moment of Shangguan Pengfei getting hurt in the match here )

 

Yao Ming

Last week Yao Ming was selling his own brand of wine, and days later he brought his talent to diplomacy. The retired basketball star was chosen as deputy chairman of the Shanghai Public Diplomacy Association on Monday, meaning he will engage himself in the city's propaganda in a semi-official capacity, a cause he has actually been associated with in the past decade. I'm fine with Yao being involved in government affairs, I just hope this time he didn't skip class again to attend the ceremony.

 

Ding Junhui

We've been told that in a well-matched battle, one needs to follow a clear strategy, keep one's composure, and, to pray for a favor from the gods. China's snooker ace Ding Junhui testifies to the viewpoint above. He scraped past his opponents with the same score 6-5 in the first two rounds at the Snooker UK Champions, Dec 3 to 11 in York. The most spectacular moment for Ding in the tournament so far goes to his game-winning pink, which he admitted was luck on his side. We are happy for Ding for his luck, and we just hope he won't get used to it.

(You can review Ding's amazing shot here )

Unfortunately, Ding was ousted by Australia's Neil Robertson at Thursday night's quarterfinal, with a score of 2-6. He lost the last five frames in a row, with a slew of turnovers that could easily have been avoided.