China Daily 0331 B8.Indd

sportsPAGE 16 | SATURDAY, MARCH 31, 2012 CHINADAILY.COM.CN/SPORTS CHINA DAILY CBA CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES off court Fairy tale season gets happy ending NBA-STYLE ATMOSPHERE Cheers, tears, white T-shirts ignite stadium Marbury scores 41 to lead Ducks to It may have been the CBA Finals, but it sure looked like the NBA. ﬁ rst CBA title, capping storybook year You couldn’t be blamed for feeling as if you’d stepped into an NBA arena if you were in the MasterCard Center for Game 5 of the By DUSTY LANE Min Lulei. “It’s a result of teamwork, CBA Finals between the Beijing Ducks and the [email protected] our never-say-die spirit and Mar- Guangdong Southern Tigers on Friday night. Th e 18,000-some fans were given white bury’s leadership. All of these com- T-shirts as the team tried to create a “white- It was the most fi tting of ends. bined for today’s success.” out”, a trend popularized by the Miami Heat Stephon Marbury led Beijing to Th e Southern Tigers were on the for big games at their AmericanAirlines Arena. its fi rst CBA title on Friday night at a verge of pulling away twice, once Th ey chanted “defense” and “go Ducks”, sold-out MasterCard Center, capping early and once late. and generally stayed away from the kind of a season in which he reclaimed his Th e fi rst time, they held a 40-25 lead behavior that landed the team in hot water aft er the opening game of the series. career and the Ducks claimed their with 11:11 left in the second quarter. Highlights of Stephon Marbury’s head- place as one of the But Marbury hit a 3, went to the line, to-head matchup with Aaron Brooks, which Inside league’s elite teams. hit another 3 – threat neutralized. were displayed on the screen hanging above • fans “When you think of By the time halft ime rolled around, center court, just goaded on the already pages 15 how much work we Beijing was up 62-57 and Marbury electric crowd. “Th e home court atmosphere is awesome put in from preseason, had 27 points, 22 in the fi rst half. here,” said Chen Zongzu, a 75-year-old die- you knew that it was something spe- Guangdong had another run, hard Ducks fan. cial being brewed here,” Marbury said. pulling ahead 111-101with 7:14 Chen brought his family, including his “I think that playing here in Beijing, left in the game aft er guard Aaron 72-year-old wife, his daughter and his son-in- the fans and the organization, every- Brooks put back his own missed shot law, to the stadium to cheer for the Ducks, a team they have been supporting for 10 years. body was so professional, and every- just aft er he’d hit two highlight-reel “If the Ducks win today, it will be a sleep- body wanted the same goal. 3-pointers. less night for our whole family,” Chen said. “That’s just the way it was sup- But Beijing quickly reeled the “I think we will still be cheering for it in the posed to end.” Tigers back in, and it was a shootout morning.” Th e end didn’t come until the end. the rest of the way with the teams Th e game ended with a mob on the court and with a weeping Marbury at the center Beijing gritted out a 124-121 vic- trading the lead time and again. aft er Beijing claimed the CBA title. tory over the Guandong Southern Randolph Morris fi nally put a cap But the excitement wasn’t contained to Tigers, the defending league champi- on it with 21.9 left , drawing a foul on the Ducks, or even to the stadium. ons, that wasn’t decided until James a fast-break and both shots. Across town, soccer fans were paying Singleton missed a potential game- “I was too excited to say a word,” attention as Beijing Guo’an, the city’s top soccer club, played in Workers Stadium at tying 3-pointer as time expired. said Beijing forward Zhu Yanxi. the same time. Moments later, a sobbing Marbury “It was such a tough series and we “Obviously, this game is much more cru- was being tossed in the air time and moved forward step by step. We cial. I couldn’t miss it, so I gave up on Guo’an’s again by his teammates in the middle faced difficulties, but we worked match,” said 37-year-old Xie Wenhai. Xie said of a mob on the court. Not two min- together as a team and kept on fi ght- he knew he’d made the right decision once he found himself in the middle of the chanting utes earlier, he’d left the game in an ing until the last minute.” throng at the MasterCard Center. entirely diff erent mood, fouling out Marbury fi nished with 41 points “Th e volunteers gave everybody white shirts with 1:12 left and the score tied at and 7 assists, while Morris had 14 here, so we could unite as one,” Xie said. “You 121-121. points and 8 rebounds. hear others shouting besides you and you feel It was just that close all night. Brooks led Guangdong with 33 CUI MENG / CHINA DAILY your blood get heated. I think I will come to “It’s a miracle, but it’s also the result points and 5 assists, while Singleton Beijing Ducks captain Chen Lei (left) celebrates while guard Stephon Marbury holds up a basketball net after the Ducks’ games more oft en in the future.” of our hard work,” said Ducks coach had 29 points and 9 rebounds. the team’s CBA championship win over Guangdong Southern Tigers on Friday in Beijing. — SUN XIAOCHEN winespecial Changyu expanding vineyards to capture market By JU CHUANJIANG autonomous regions, which are its vineyards and aims to have the and WANG QIAN in Jinan considered China’s top grape-pro- world’s largest grape-growing acre- ducing areas. age in fi ve years,” said Li. Changyu Pioneer Wine Co Ltd, In addition, the company teamed In Yantai alone, the company has China’s oldest and largest winemaker, with four prominent chateaus in more than 4,666 hectares of vine- announced recently it will undergo New Zealand, France and Italy to yards spread along the city’s coastal a massive expansion of its existing establish an international chateau areas, which lie on a latitude similar vineyards and build another 20 high- alliance in 2009. Under the agree- to that of France’s renowned wine- end chateaus across the world’s top ments, Changyu is the exclusive Chi- producing region in Bordeaux, grape-growing regions in the next nese distributor of high-end wines and Italy’s Tuscany. And another fi ve years. produced from these overseas com- 667-hectare growing area will be “With 120 years of experience in panies. added within the year, Li said. viniculture and the wine business, China’s high-end wine market is To maintain standards, Changyu Changyu has grown into one of expanding fast as the standard of liv- has set up a quality-control system nation’s top producers and is on par ing continues to improve. for its own vineyards and tightly with the best European winemakers,” The wine produced at the cha- manages subcontractors. Th e com- Zhou Hongjiang, general manager of teaus accounts for the majority of pany contracts local farmers to grow the company said during a national Changyu’s high-end products, and grapes and provides them with the Sugar and Wine Festival held in its sales revenue has reported an same resources used in its own vine- Chengdu from March 21 to 23. average annual increase of more than yards, such as seedlings, fertilizer, “An ambitious plan is already in 45 percent since 2008. techniques and regular training. place as we look forward to more “Changyu will spare no eff ort to Th e company also has an informa- robust growth and a more important seize the opportunity by building 20 tion management system that allows place in the global wine market,” said more chateaus in 17 major grape- every planter to coordinate fertilizer Zhou. growing areas all over the world, and and pesticide use. PHOTOS PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY it will look for more cooperation Every vineyard has a fermentation Chateau Changyu-Castel, China’s ﬁ rst chateau built according to international standards, was established in Chateau alliance with overseas chateaus by 2016,” said plant or chateau beside it to make 2002 in Yantai, Shandong province. Changyu began building its fi rst Zhou. sure that the grapes are sent to fer- chateau as early as 10 years ago. Th e “With all these eff orts, Changyu mentation tanks within one hour of first bottle in 1914 and now has a Changyu-Castel chateau in Yantai, will be on track to play a vital role in harvesting. market share of more than 90 per- Shandong province, the company’s the world’s high-end wines market,” Meanwhile, a wine research and cent in the domestic low-end bran- hometown, was China’s first to be he said. manufacturing plant designed dy market. However, the high-end built in accordance with internation- to have an annual production of brandy market is mainly occupied al standards and was funded jointly Fine growing regions 250,000 tons of wines and brandy by overseas brands.

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