22 THURSDAY MARCH 8, 2007 SPORTSCHINA DAILY INBRIEF Success MOTOR SPORTS Divers aim for top of the Worlds China launches own pays off Formula Open The inaugural China Formula Youthful Open roars off on May 1 at the for Yan, Zhuhai International Circuit, squad travels according to the organizers – the Federation of Automobile to Zheng Sports of China and the March3 International () Ltd. knowing only TENNIS The event, which comprises six stops, will also be held at the best will do By Zhao Rui the Beijing Golden Port Inter- national Circuit, the By Xiangfeng International Circuit and the Grand Slam champions Zheng Golden Port Interna- Jie and will start the tional Circuit later this year. As China’s divers make their Pacifi c Life Open in California One Formula Renault compe- fi nal preparations for the up- today buoyed by news that they tition of the China Formula coming World Championships, ranked 12th on the Forbes 2007 Open will be held overseas, they know the pressure is on to Chinese celebrity rich list. with the city and date yet to achieve a gold medal sweep. The duo becpme the first be announced. After dominating the tennis players to crack the top The event, a combination in December, a 100 after their combined prize of Formula Renault and the young 14-member squad led money and sponsorship rev- Formula Junior, is aimed at by “ queen” enues topped 14 million yuan providing a smooth link from will aim to repeat the success in ($1.8 million). kart racing to Formula One Melbourne, . They are the third-ranked racing for Chinese drivers. Women’s 10m synchronized athletes following NBA All- Cheng Congfu, who has tested platform Olympic champion star center , who tops with Formula One’s MacLaren has lost her place to the list with 260 million yuan team, has been named as the teenagers and Chen ($34 million), and 110-meter spokesman of the series. Ruolin, while in the men’s hurdles world record holder team Olympic men’s (58 million yuan/ 10m synchronized platform $7.5 million). gold medalist , They enjoy a big cushion China sweeps 4 titles at 10m platform winner ahead of other top-notch IBF and 3m springboard star Peng athletes, including snooker Chinese shuttlers demonstrat- Bo are absent through injury. prodigy Ding Junhui, 41st on ed yet again their supremacy “We did not include some vet- the list with 4.5 million yuan as they swept four titles at the eran divers because we want to Doha Asian Games gold medalists and (front) will compete for China in 10m synchronized platform in place of ($580,000) and IBF German Open on Sunday. give a chance to the youngsters. out-of-favor star and injured Hu Jia at the World Championships in Melbourne, Australia. Reuters world champion Yining, China claimed men’s and wom- We are eager to see them gain 64th with an income of 3.1 mil- en’s singles, women’s doubles more experience and improve needs time to fi nd his form. Peng Minxia on the springboard. Young hopefuls lion yuan ($400,000). and mixed doubles titles, leav- their skills,” team manager is still struggling to recover from After Athens, Guo part- On the women’s platform, a Competitor However, Zheng and Yan ing men’s doubles as the sole Zhou Jihong told Titan Sports. foot and knee injuries. nered and they won trio of teenagers will shoulder have to give 60 percent of their regret of the tournament. But Zhou dismissed specula- “But all of them have a the last world championships the nation’s expectations. None list for the prize money back to the Tennis Top seed won the- tion that the team heading to chance of competing in 2008,” in Montreal in a bid to give older than 16, , Jia 2007 Worlds Administrative Center. men’s fi nal against country- Melbourne has already been Zhou added. the latter more experience, Tong and Xin have In last year’s breakthrough man , ranked seventh pencilled in for the 2008 Beijing One of the most encouraging but management has decided already proven their talent in Women season for the Chinese women’s in the world. . developments from the team’s to enter Li in 1m springboard international competition, and 1m springboard: Li game, the Sichuan duo won the Lin, who has been world No “I do not think the list will month-long training camp in in Melbourne. the team will be hoping they Ting, Australian Open and Wim- 1 for 22 weeks since Septem- have any effect on our selec- Jinan, Province, was It has not been decided who can cope with the pressure of 3m springboard: Guo bledon, together with another ber 28, 2006, has notched up tion of athletes to compete at the resumption of the pairing of Guo will partner in 2008, the Worlds. Jingjing, four trophies at Berlin, Rabat, two titles this season after the 2008 Beijing Games. The Guo and Athens Olympic gold though the result in Melbourne The top prospect in the 3m synchronized Hertogenbosch and New Haven winning the German Open Olympic selection process just medal winning partner Wu will likely have an impact. men’s team is 20-year-old He springboard: Guo/Wu in a 47-13 season. and the South in began this year. There is still Chong. Known for attempting 10m platform: Chen The duo lost in the semifi - January. time for other divers to prove the most difficult dives, He Ruolin, nal to ’s Chan Xingfang, Lin’s girlfriend themselves. Young or old, eve- won two Grand Prix meets last 10m synchronized plat- Yung-Jan and Chuang Chia- and women’s world No 1, has ryone has a fair chance.” year and two golds at the Doha form: Chen Ruolin/Jia Tong Jung at this year’s Australian followed the same path as Chinese divers must prove Asian Games. Open, but they are not letting Lin, winning titles at Ger- themselves in fi ve Olympic quali- In the men’s platform, Lin Men the disappointment get them man Open after rallying past fying competitions. As well as the Yue, Zhou Luxin and Huo Liang 1m springboard: He down. ’s Xu Huaiwen 19-21, Worlds, they have to win as many have matured rapidly in recent Chong, “The Olympic Games is com- 21-12, 21-19 in the fi nal and points as possible at two national years and will take the place 3m springboard: He ing so our target on the Tour is also in the South Korean championships (2007 and 2008), of out-of-favor icon Tian Liang Chong, getting higher. We will try to Open. one stage of the FINA Grand Prix, and Hu Jia. 3m synchronized win the doubles’ titles in all and next year’s World Cup. At the last world champion- springboard: / the tournaments we compete,” SHOOTING Zhou provided the latest news ships, Hu collected gold in the Qin Kai Zheng told last on some of the injury-hit divers. men’s 10m platform, but China 10m platform: Lin Yue, month. Olympic champion misses “Yang has not resumed train- lost the 10m synchronized plat- Zhou Luxin Joining Zheng in Indian World Cup fi nal berth ing since sustaining a shoulder form to a Russian pair. 10m synchronized Wells will be the country’s Chinese markswoman Du Li injury in 2005. Hu has just The FINA World Champion- platform: Lin Yue/Huo No 1 singles player and struggled to cope with her started training after last year’s Olympic diving champion Guo Jingjing leads a group of young ships run from March 17 to Liang 12th-seed , 30th seed new gun at the World Cup surgery on his eyes so he still divers aiming for a gold medal sweep in Melbourne. Reuters April 1st. Peng Shuai, Sun Tiantian and Series in Germany, where she Yuan Meng. failed to make today’s fi nal Li Na will face either ’s round. Virginia Pascual or Australian The Athens 10m air rifl e gold Nicole Pratt after a fi rst-round medalist changed to a new bye while Zheng will face off gun last month but it has Softball team reshuffl es 2008 coaching line-up with a qualifi er. disturbed her game. SOFTBALL coaching group, according to a The failure at Doha is be- has vast experience both as an China’s tennis authorities “This is a new brand and new statement issued by the sport’s lieved to have had a major im- athlete and a coach,” the state- have added pressure on the model, so I need some time to By Yu Yilei administrative center. pact on his demotion: With the ment said. players this season in a bid get used to it,” said Du. “I will Bastian will stay on with the target a gold medal, the team Bastian was the fi rst foreign to ensure they are at the top use it until June and see if it team as batting coach. lost to Chinese Taipei in the coach of China’s softball team. of their games come Beijing suits me. American softball coach The center did not specify semifi nals after squandering The team were the two-time 2008. “I haven’t decided on a gun for Michael Bastian yesterday be- why Bastian, who once led the a big lead. world championship runners- In June an Olympics Points the Beijing Games next year.” came the fi rst foreign head of a US junior team to world run- The center said the appoint- up and won the silver medal System will be introduced, 24-year-old Du continued her Chinese 2008 Olympic team to ners-up, was replaced. But it ment of new head coach Wang, at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. which will rank players ac- form after the Athens Games, lose his job due to disappointing is thought the center had been a core member of the silver-win- But they have dipped in recent cording to their tournament winning a number of titles in results. reluctant to extend his contract ning team at the 1996 Games, years, placing fourth at 2000 performance. World Cup events and also the Bastian, who began coach- after the team fi nished a modest was down to her experience. Olympics, 2004 Athens In the past fi rst round exits World Championships over the ing the Chinese softball team fourth at the World Champion- “Wang used to be one of the Olympics and 2006 Worlds. have been tolerated, but under past two years, making her a in early 2006, was replaced by ships in September and only best pitchers in the world. She The team are aiming for at the new system players who sure bet for China’s squad for Wang Lihong, a former pitcher won bronze at the Doha Asian also works as the head coach least a bronze at the Beijing fall at the fi rst hurdle may lose the Beijing Games. and member of the team’s Games in December. of Beijing softball team. She Games. Michael Bastian prize money. SCOREBOARD

BADMINTON 14 HIROSE Eriko JPN 32390 Northwest Division San Jose 3 MINNESOTA 0 Dallas 38 22 5 170 156 81 Seongnam Chunma (KOR) 4 Dong Tam IBF World Rankings 15 OVERZIER Petra GER 32451 Utah 41 19 .683 - CHICAGO 3 Los Angeles 0 Phoenix 27 35 3 174 222 57 Long An (VIE)1 16 AUDINA Mia NED 27950 Denver 29 29 .500 11 VANCOUVER 5 Tampa Bay 1 Los Angeles 22 34 10 185 231 54 Men’s singles TABLE TENNIS Rank Name Assoc. Pts 17 HUANG Chia-Chi AUS 32641 Minnesota 27 33 .450 14 Standings Note: Overtime losses (OTL) are worth one point in the standings and are not included ITTF World Ranking 1 LIN Dan CHN 67401 18 MAS 32350 Seattle 25 35 .417 16 Eastern Conference in the loss column (L) Men’s singles 2 CHN 54491 19 MEULENDIJKS Judith NED 29370 Portland 25 36 .410 16 1/2 Atlantic Division 20 LI Li SIN 28471 Pacifi c Division W L Otl Gf Ga Pts Rank Pts Name Assoc. 3 MAS 52181 SOCCER 1 (<<) 12653 WANG Liqin CHN 4 CHEN Hong CHN 58871 Phoenix 46 14 .767 - New Jersey 40 19 8 179 162 88 2 (<<) 12646 MA Lin CHN NBA LA Lakers 33 28 .541 13 1/2 Pittsburgh 36 21 9 226 207 81 European Champions League 5 GADE Peter DEN 50951 NEW YORK: Results from Tuesday’s games PARIS: European Champions League last 3 (<<) 12610 WANG Hao CHN 6 BAO Chunlai CHN 51571 LA Clippers 29 31 .483 17 NY Islanders 33 23 10 198 186 76 4 (<<) 12505 BOLL Timo GER (home team in CAPS): Sacramento 28 32 .467 18 NY Rangers 32 27 7 192 185 71 16 second leg results on Tuesday: 7 CHEN Yu CHN 50781 At Lyon, France: Lyon (FRA) 0 AS Roma 5 (<<) 12378 SAMSONOV Vladimir BLR WASHINGTON 129 Toronto 109 Golden State 27 35 .435 20 Philadelphia 18 37 11 178 252 47 8 JONASSEN Kenneth DEN 44541 (ITA) 2 (Totti 22, Mancini 44) 6 (7) 12332 OH Sang Eun KOR Seattle 100 NY KNICKS 99 7 (6) 12271 CHN 9 HASHIM Muhd Hafi z B MAS 43521 Southwest Division Northeast Division Roma win 2-0 on aggregate MINNESOTA 117 LA Lakers 107 (OT) 8 (16) 12202 CHN 10 PONSANA Boonsak THA 41201 Dallas 51 9 .850 - Buffalo 44 16 5 251 189 93 At Liverpool, : Liverpool (ENG) 0 DALLAS 102 New Jersey 89 San Antonio 43 18 .705 8 1/2 Ottawa 38 23 6 230 186 82 9 (8) 12196 RYU Seung Min KOR 11 LEE Hyun II KOR 30820 DENVER 106 N.O./ Oklahoma City 91 (ESP) 1 (Gudjohnsen 75) 10 (9) 12194 SCHLAGER Werner AUT 12 PALYAMA Dicky NED 32371 Houston 36 24 .600 15 Toronto 32 26 9 211 217 73 Aggregate 2-2. Liverpool win on away goals SACRAMENTO 102 Indiana 98 N.O./Oklahoma City 28 33 .459 23 1/2 Montreal 33 29 6 197 211 72 11 (<<) 12173 LI Ching HKG 13 HIDAYAT Taufi k INA 29771 At Valencia, Spain: Valencia (ESP) 0 Inter 12 (10) 12129 HOU Yingchao CHN San Antonio 99 PORTLAND 94 Memphis 15 46 .246 36 1/2 Boston 32 29 5 190 232 69 14 SMITH Andrew ENG 34901 (ITA) 0 13 (14) 12115 JOO Se Hyuk KOR Standings Wednesday’s games Southeast Division 15 LEE Tsuen Seng MAS 32771 Aggregate 2-2. Valencia win on away goals 14 (12) 12105 CHEN Weixing AUT Eastern Conference Washington at Atlanta Atlanta 35 23 10 207 211 80 At London: Chelsea (ENG) 2 (Robben 48, 16 PANG Eric NED 30041 15 (13) 12092 CHUAN Chih-Yuan TPE Atlantic Division Seattle at Philadelphia Tampa Bay 37 27 4 215 213 78 Ballack 79) FC Porto (POR) 1 (Quaresma 17 WACHA Przemyslaw POL 28901 Women’s singles W L PCT GB Memphis at Toronto Carolina 33 28 7 199 209 73 15) Rank Pts Name Assoc. 18 YEOH Kay Bin MAS 30200 Toronto 32 29 .525 - Houston at Boston Florida 27 27 13 196 214 67 Cheslea win 3-2 on aggregate 1 (<<) 12713 ZHANG Yining CHN 19 AYOB Sairul Amar MAS 30101 New Jersey 28 33 .459 4 Cleveland at Detroit Washington 24 31 12 199 239 60 Playing Wednesday (fi rst leg in brackets) 2 (<<) 12562 WANG Nan CHN 20 JOPPIEN Bjoern GER 26471 NY Knicks 28 34 .452 4 1/2 Chicago at Miami Western Conference AC Milan v Celtic (0-0) 3 (<<) 12505 GUO Yan CHN Women’s singles Philadelphia 22 38 .367 9 1/2 Arsenal v PSV (0-1) 4 (5) 12459 CHN LA Lakers at Milwaukee Central Division Rank Name Assoc. Pts Boston 17 42 .288 14 Bayern v Real (2-3) 5 (4) 12367 LI Jia Wei SIN Charlotte at Phoenix Nashville 44 18 6 234 177 94 1 CHN 56351 Central Division Man Utd v Lille (1-0) 6 (7) 12305 LI Xiaoxia CHN Indiana at Utah Detroit 42 16 9 212 165 93 2 CHN 49951 Detroit 37 21 .638 - 7 (6) 12303 TIE Yana HKG Denver at Golden State St. Louis 28 28 10 171 200 66 AFC Champions League 3 HKG 49601 Cleveland 35 25 .583 3 BEIJING: Results from fi rst round of AFC 8 (<<) 12219 WANG Yue Gu SIN Columbus 26 33 7 165 205 59 9 (12) 12133 GAO Jun USA 4 XU Huaiwen GER 48981 Champions League on Wednesday: Chicago 35 27 .565 4 NHL Chicago 25 33 9 165 205 59 10 (14) 12125 JIANG Huajun HKG 5 CHN 54401 Indiana 29 30 .492 8 1/2 NEW YORK: NHL results on Tuesday (home Northwest Division Group E: Urawa Reds (JAP) 3 Persik Kediri 11 (9) 12118 NIU Jianfeng CHN 6 CHN 48221 Milwaukee 22 39 .361 16 1/2 team in CAPS): Vancouver 39 22 5 178 166 83 (IND) 0 12 (10) 12104 KIM Kyung Ah KOR Shanghai Shenhua (CHA) 1 Sydney FC 7 NED 46621 Southeast Division PHILADELPHIA 5 New Jersey 4 (OT) Calgary 36 21 9 215 176 81 13 (11) 12072 LIU Jia AUT (AUS) 2 8 FRA 43351 Washington 34 25 .576 - ATLANTA 4 Florida 2 Minnesota 36 24 7 190 170 79 14 (18) 12050 LIN Ling HKG Group F: University (THA)0 15 (13) 12048 FUKUHARA Ai JPN 9 NEDELTCHEVA Petya BUL 43511 Miami 30 29 .508 4 Colorado 2 BOSTON 0 Colorado 33 29 5 220 211 71 Chunnam Dragons (KOR) 0 10 CHN 40851 Orlando 29 33 .468 6 1/2 DETROIT 4 Nashville 3 (o.p.) Edmonton 30 30 6 174 194 66 Arema Malang (IND) 1 Kawasaki Frontale 11 MORI Kaori JPN 35521 Charlotte 22 39 .361 13 Pittsburgh 5 OTTAWA 4 (o.p.) Pacifi c Division (JAP) 3 To comment or alert us to a story, 12 RASMUSSEN Tine DEN 34500 Atlanta 22 39 .361 13 TORONTO 3 Washington 0 Anaheim 39 17 11 213 174 89 Group G: Adelaide United (AUS) 0 e-mail [email protected] 13 HKG 32941 Western Conference Calgary 4 ST. LOUIS 2 San Jose 40 25 2 200 169 82 Shandong Luneng (CHA)