Zheng Jie, left, and Li Na, Chinese female tennis athletes on the verge of stardom. Source: People's Daily

For all of about five seconds, there was discussion about an “all Chinese” final in the Australian Open. The People’s Daily newspaper had already crowned Li Na and Zheng Jie — the Chinese female tennis players who both managed to advance into the final four to play against Serena Williams and Justine Henin, respectively — “two golden flowers.”

And then it was over.

Defending champion Williams stopped 16th seeded Li Na in a two-hour match, winning 6-7 (4), 6-7 (1). If you followed ESPN‘s account of the events, Henin “thrashed a helpless” Zheng Jie, 6-1, 6-0, in a game that took less than 60 minutes to complete.

Losing in the semifinals to Williams and Henin is nothing less than stellar, as both Li Na and Zheng Jie’s march to the semifinal matches is at least commendable, possibly historic given this is the first time two Chinese players have made it this far in an Australian Open. Right now, both Li Na and Zheng Jie should be considered two tennis stars on the verge of overtaking two other records that no other Chinese tennis athlete can yet claim: breaking into the top-10 rankings or winning a Grand Slam. They’re almost there. And while almost only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades, the two are part of a growing sports machine in China that has its athletes on their way toward star status.

It’s no secret, China enjoys its heroic athletes. Each time a Chinese athlete accomplishes another first for the country, the people are right there cheering. Nationalism aside, China is just starting to see its sports mold homegrown athletes into world superstars. In interviews with sports promoters, coaches and athletes, all have constantly repeated the mantra that once a Chinese athlete takes home the top prize in any international event, the popularity of said sport explodes.

Forgetting Yao Ming for a minute, China’s sports stars are coming through the ranks in more non-traditional sports, at least in comparison to the revenue-driven, media-savvy sense of western sports. Forget football, basketball or baseball. China is a country where diver Guo Jingjing is a goddess, snooker prodigy Ding Junhui can dominate the front of sports newspaper pages, and Liu Xiang could fill the stands at the Bird’s Nest if it was announced Beijing was about to hold an international track and field meet, all 76,000+. But you’d be hard-pressed to find the aforementioned names anywhere outside of China — discounting the 2008 Olympic Games, of course.

Bringing Yao Ming back for a moment: One has a better chance of finding a Chinese person that can recall the gold medal-winning lineup of the women’s quadruple sculls at this past Olympic Games than one does of finding someone who knows the starting lineup to Manager Yao Ming’s Shanghai Sharks basketball team. South Korean Y.E. Yang’s victory over Tiger Woods at the 2009 PGA Championship was said to be a positive for golf in China. And given China is sending world half-pipe champion Liu Jiayu to the upcoming Vancouver Winter Olympic Games, there could even be a snowboarding household name in China come March 2010.

So Li Na and Zheng Jie didn’t take home the top prize … this time. Barring a career-ending injury, the two are almost certainly destined for tennis infamy. It might be too early to place them alongside names such as Guo Jingjing, Ding Junhui, or Liu Xiang, but one might as well leave the two slots open for the tennis duo from China.

— Zachary Franklin

Links and Sources:

• People’s Daily: “Serena Williams Stops Li Na’s Fairytale Run to Reach Australian Open Final”
• People’s Daily: “China Celebrates Zheng, Li for Australian Wins”
• ESPN: “Despite Roadblocks, Justine Henin Back in Australian Open Final”

Ding tastes his UK Championship victory

Chinese snooker star Ding Junhui beat John Higgins 10-8 in the final of UK Championship, snooker’s second-biggest ranking event on Sunday night, and part of his prize was 69 kilos worth of sponsor’s pies.

Ding wrote on his blog after the win:

It really is a tough match. To me, playing with John is the hardest [compared with other players]. And this is the most tiring match I’ve played with him…

…thank you so much for supporting me by watching the game late at night. I’ll bring home some pies for you if I can.

Turns out that Ding decided to make better use of these pies by donating them all to Homeless and Rootless at Christmas, a Sheffield voluntary group which looks after homeless people over the festive period.

“I’ve lived in Sheffield for the past few years and I love the city,” said the 22-year-old. “The least I can do is try to help some of those less fortunate than me at Christmas by donating these pies – hopefully there are enough to stop people going hungry.”

Ding Junhui is up to sixth in the latest world rankings following his victory. Liang Wenbo, another Chinese player same age as Ding, reached the quarterfinals and moved up to the 12th place.

Links and Sources:

• The Times: Ding Junhui delights his nation by carrying off UK crown
• Yahoo Sports: Ding gives 276 pies to charity
• Ding Junhui’s blog

Photo: World Snooker

The 22-year-old left-hander went all the way to the final in Shanghai last week, beating former World Champions Peter Ebdon and Shaun Murphy, as well as fifth seed Ali Carter and Ricky Walden, who won the title last year. He eventually came up short against Ronnie O’Sullivan, losing 10-5, but was still thrilled with his performance.

“I had the best week of my snooker career so far in Shanghai,” said Liang, whose only previous appearance in the quarter-finals of a ranking event was at the 2008 World Championship, when he lost to O’Sullivan. “It was really exciting and it’s given me a lot of confidence for the rest of the season. Beating four top players, who have all won ranking events, has helped me prove to myself that I belong at that level.”

The Grand Prix qualifiers at Pontin’s in Prestayn run from Monday to Thursday (September 21-24) with 80 players battling for 16 spots, to join the world’s top 16 in the televised stages at the Kelvin Hall in Glasgow from October 3 to 11.

The likes of Steve Davis, Jimmy White, John Parrott, Ken Doherty, Graeme Dott, Jamie Cope and Judd Trump will be among those competing at Pontin’s.

Liang, whose attacking style of play has earned him a large following among Chinese fans, needs to win one match to qualify, and plays at 4pm on Thursday against Dominic Dale, Jin Long, Ben Woollaston or Zhang Anda.

“I want to go on to the qualifiers next week, keep my good form going and try to win my match and make sure I will be at Glasgow, as I know the Grand Prix is one of the most important tournaments,” said Liang, who comes from the Heilongjiang Province in China but is based during the season at the World Snooker Academy in Sheffield. “I will keep working hard on my game at the Academy , and hope I can earn some success for myself and for Chinese snooker.”

Links and Sources:

• China Daily: On cue, rising Liang lifts China’s snooker
• South China Morning Post: Liang’s Shanghai run brings him out of Ding’s shadow (subscription req’d)

Photo: Nu88

Chinese player Ding Junhui (丁俊晖), ranked 11th, will play Michael Holt/Xiao Guodong(肖国栋) in the first round. And to reach the Quarter Finals,  he will have to take down Ronnie “the Rocket” O’Sullivan/Fergal O’Brien. Tough draw for Ding but good for us fans.

And on a lighter note, China Sports Review is now twittering. Follow us on the micro-blogging platform for more China sports news.

Monday 30 March

2.30pm
WC1 – Tang Jun v Judd Trump
WC2 – Cao Kaisheng v Ricky Walden
WC3 – Cao Yupeng v Stuart Pettman
WC4 – Yu Delu v Rod Lawler

7.30pm
Q1 – Liang Wenbo v Robert Milkins
WC5 – Cao Xinlong v John Parrott
WC6 – Tian Pengfei v David Gray
WC7 – Xiao Guodong v Michael Holt

Tuesday 31 March

10am
Q2 – Joe Swail v winner Q1

2.30pm
Match 1 – Stephen Maguire – Dave Harold
Match 13 – John Higgins v Anthony Hamilton
Match 2 – Peter Ebdon v winner WC1
Match 3 – Joe Perry v Winner WC2

7.30pm
Match 15 – Ding Junhui v winner WC7
Match 4 – Stephen Hendry v Winner Q2
Match 5 – Allister Carter v Nigel Bond
Match 10 – Neil Robertson v Gerard Greene

Wednesday 1 April

2.30pm
Match 14 – Marco Fu v winner WC6
Match 9 – Shaun Murphy v Winner WC5
Match 7 – Graeme Dott v Winner WC4
Match 6 – Mark Allen v Winner WC3

7.30pm
Match 16 – Ronnie O’Sullivan v Fergal O’Brien
Match 8 – Mark Selby v Stephen Lee
Match 11 –Mark King v Mark Williams
Match 12 – Ryan Day v Jamie Cope

Thursday 2 April

2.30pm
Match 23 – Winner match 13 v winner match 14
Match 17 – Winner match 1 v winner match 2
Match 18 – Winner match 3 v winner match 4
Match 19 – Winner match 5 v winner match 6

7.30pm
Match 24 – Winner match 15 v winner match 16
Match 20 – Winner match 7 v winner match 8
Match 21 – Winner match 9 v winner match 10
Match 22 – Winner match 11 v winner match 12

Friday 3 April

2.30pm
QF1 – Winner match 17 v winner match 18
QF2 – Winner match 19 v winner match 20

7.30pm
QF3 – Winner match 21 v winner match 22
QF4 – Winner match 23 v winner match 24

Saturday 4 April

2.30pm
SF1 – Winner QF1 v winner QF2
7.30pm
SF2 – Winner QF3 v winner QF4

Sunday 5 April

2.00pm
Final – Winner SF1 v winner SF2
7.30pm
Final – Winner SF1 v winner SF2

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