CHINA DAILY | HONG KONG EDITION Wednesday, February 26, 2020 | 19 SPORTS TABLE TENNIS SOCCER World team Li’s squad tournament selection postponed over Korean riles fans By SHI FUTIAN virus fears Team China coach Li Tie is fac- ing a backlash from fans and pundits over his squad selection SEOUL — Table tennis’ world for the upcoming 2022 World team championships, due to take Cup qualifiers. place next month in the South The Chinese Football Associa- Korean city of Busan, were post- tion on Monday announced a poned on Tuesday following a 26-man squad for next month’s leap in novel coronavirus cases. gams against the Maldives and The International Table Tennis Guam, with the omissions of Federation said the event, origi- Guangzhou Evergrande hotshot nally planned for March 22-29, Wei Shihao and naturalized Bei- had been provisionally resched- jing Guo’an defender Li Ke (aka uled for June 21-28 following an Nico Yennaris) leaving many emergency meeting with local observers puzzled. organizers. Instead, Li has selected four South Korea’s K-league had lesser-known names (Li Hang, already postponed the start of the Dong Chunyu, Ming Tian and Liu new soccer season on Monday as Yun) from Wuhan Zall, the club the virus causes chaos to the he coached before being appoint- country’s sporting calendar. ed as Marcello Lippi’s successor Volleyball, basketball and in the national team job in early handball have taken similar January. measures as confirmed cases of La Liga striker Wu Lei and Bra- COVID-19 rose to 977 in South zil-born forward Ai Kesen (aka Korea, with 10 deaths as of Tues- Veteran striker Gao Lin has left Guangzhou Evergrande for second-tier Shenzhen FC in a move that has surprised many fans. XINHUA Elkeson) have retained their pla- day afternoon. ces in the squad, however, the “In light of the emerging situa- omission of Wei in particular has tion in Korea Republic and to riled many fans. best preserve the health and safe- Wei was last season’s top ty of players, officials and fans, domestic scorer in the Chinese the Hana Bank 2020 World Team Super League, with many fans Table Tennis Championships in Guangzhou great Gao taking to social media to voice Busan have been postponed with their dismay at Li’s decision to the dates of 21-28 June provision- drop the 24-year-old. ally reserved,” said an ITTF After being officially installed statement. as national team coach on Jan 2, “By continuing to work hard former Everton midfielder Li and in close cooperation with all embarks on new chapter pushed his players to their limits stakeholders in Busan, the ITTF during a tough winter training remains confident about putting camp in Guangzhou last month. on a great world championships Veteran calls time on glorious 10-year possible. With their great perform- the most valuable memory of my The priority for Li and his team in June.” ances, they will help Shenzhen life.” is to qualify for the 2022 World The coronavirus has had a seri- Evergrande career to join Shenzhen make breakthroughs. Gao was not the only player to Cup in Qatar. With four more ous impact on sports events “Gao Lin has great speed and make way this week at Evergrande, first-round qualifiers to play, Chi- worldwide, with soccer matches By SHI FUTIAN “It’s natural that I’m growing old. good assist skills. He will be a key which is in the process of building a na is eight points adrift of Group in Italy, China and Japan called [email protected] But veterans have their value, just winger or midfielder of the team. He younger squad. A leader Syria and only leads off, as well as the postponements like young players have their advan- has a humble personality and can On Monday, 34-year-old Feng third-place Philippines on goal of Formula One’s Chinese Grand Gao Lin’s glorious career is not tages. I feel I still have what it takes to cooperate well with foreign players. Xiaoting and 33-year-old Zeng difference. The eight group win- Prix, the Hong Kong Rugby Sev- done yet. play at this level. I will endeavor to He will further enhance Shenzhen’s Cheng were also omitted from the ners and four best second-place ens and elite women’s LPGA golf On Monday, the veteran China exert my maximum influence and midfield strength.” club’s latest roster, although former finishers will enter a second tournaments in Thailand, Singa- international sprung a surprise by contribute to this new environment.” Gao scored 113 goals in 369 games Team China captain Zheng Zhi, 39, phase of Asian qualifying. pore and China. confirming he had joined second- After being relegated last term, over 10 seasons at Evergrande, and star defender Zhang Linpeng, China is expected to bag three The Korean Volleyball Federa- tier Shenzhen FC after ten years at Shenzhen could make an immedi- according to Xinhua, with many 30, have been retained. points against minnows the Mal- tion said it would hold matches all-conquering Guangzhou Ever- ate return to the top flight due to fans in disbelief that he has left for a Evergrande head coach Fabio dives on March 26 and Guam five behind closed doors until “an grande. Tianhai’s financial woes. The club is rival team. Cannavaro is now expected to focus days later, before ending its cam- improvement in the situation”. Gao had long been expected to reportedly considering quitting the Some even criticized Evergrande on nurturing the next generation of paign with crunch matches The Women’s Korean Basket- end his career at Evergrande, where CSL due to its money troubles, with for the haste with which it deleted players, such as 24-year-old attacker against the Philippines and Syria. ball League took a similar deci- he won eight Chinese Super League Shenzhen in line to replace it. Gao’s picture from the club’s website Wei Shihao, 23-year-old striker Yang Some have leapt to Li’s defense, sion last week and offered fans titles and two Asian Champions “I don’t know what will happen to and its failure to acknowledge his Liyu and 21-year-old midfielder Yan given China should have little full refunds. League crowns. At 34, though, the others,” said Gao. “All in all, when I contribution over the past decade. Dinghao. trouble in defeating the Maldives And the Korea Handball Feder- veteran was no longer assured of a discussed the contract with Shenz- However, writing on his Weibo Moreover, Evergrande is also and Guam. Others, though, deem ation cut its season short, cancel- starting berth in the Evergrande hen, the plan was to fight in the sec- account, Gao expressed his grati- leading China’s naturalization the selection risky, considering ling the playoffs and finals. team and, after training with Tian- ond-tier league next season in order tude to Guangzhou. trend, and is thought to be working home advantage has been lost The virus has infected over jin Tianhai toward the end of last to return to the CSL. If we can “I really want to thank the city of on adding more imported talent to due the novel coronavirus out- 80,000 people around the world, year, it looked like Gao might con- directly play in the CSL, the decision Guangzhou for tolerating and its ranks to join Brazil-born for- break which has resulted in the including more than 77,000 in tinue his career with the northern is the Chinese Football Association’s encouraging me for all these years, wards Ai Kesen (aka Elkeson) and games being moved to Thailand. China. China’s death toll reached club. to make.” but this time I’m going to say good- Alan, who played on loan at Tianjin “Will Li Tie win his first game as 2,663 on Tuesday. However, on Monday, China Whatever division it kicks off in bye for real,” he wrote. “There were last term. the national team coach? The More than 2,000 cases and 30 League One’s Shenzhen FC next season (the start of which has regrets, but also warm and great Shenzhen finished 15th in the answer is almost certainly a yes!” deaths have been reported out- announced the signings of Gao and been delayed due to the coronavirus memories. I will not let you down 16-team CSL last season, but Gao is said renowned Chinese sports side China. four other players — Wang Yongpo, outbreak), Shenzhen is hopeful all but try my best to push forward. I not concerned that he might find commentator Han Qiaosheng, The outbreak has had a major Zheng Dalun, Pei Shuai and Blerim of its new recruits will provide it will always hope to see Evergrande the drop to a lower-profile team dif- who has around 15 million follow- impact on the global sporting cal- Dzemaili, a Swiss midfielder who with extra strength in depth. continue to grow. ficult to adjust to. ers on Weibo. endar, with a host of events can- arrives from Serie A Bologna. “The arrival of the five players will “I wish to thank the club for mak- “I never entertained such a “Given the limited strength of celed or postponed, and raised “I hope I can have a positive influ- allow the team to have more diversi- ing sacrifices and efforts to prolong thought before and I will not think the Maldives and Guam, Li’s alarm bells for Tokyo Olympics ence on the team as an experienced fied tactics and enhance the squad’s my professional career.