Chinanews, London, November 29 ¨C Ding Junhui, the world snooker champion from China, gave an interview to our reporter on November 28, 2007.

According to our reporter, Ding is more like a ¡°boy living next door¡± than a cool and serious world champion. During the interview, he played table soccer with Zhang Meng, his agent. Every time he shot a goal, he would burst into laughter, which was rare even when he got full marks in Wembley.

Snooker is a sport that requires great concentration and self-possession, and Ding is said to have a remarkable concentration of the mind rarely found among boys around his age.

However, Ding lost several matches in the first round this year, and there were rumors that he should improve his mental conditions.

Ding said that he felt a bit lost earlier this year, when there had been so many matches that he had not had time for training.

In Snooker Premier League this year, Ding beat Davis, Hendry and O’Sullivan. The Premier League is somewhat easier for players, as there are no marks involved.

Ding¡¯s life in Britain is quite simple. Every day, he takes 6 hours of training, and the rest of the day, he usually plays video games or watches basketball matches.

¡°In Britain, I always have to stick to the timetable. For example, the restaurants will be closed soon after dinner time, while back home I can have dinner in restaurants whenever I want, ¡± complained Ding.

(Source: China Daily)Nov. 29 - The accreditation process for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games by the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG) has begun and the deadline for the return of forms is February 29, organizers said.

“The BOCOG has begun distributing press application forms and accreditation guides to the National Olympic Committees (NOCs) and accredited organizations,” Yang Minghui, deputy director of the BOCOG’s accreditation center, said.

“According to Olympic charter regulations, holders of valid Olympic or Paralympic Identity and Accreditation Cards (OIACs) can use them, in combination with a valid passport or travel document, to enter and exit the host country,” he said.

OIAC holders are permitted to remain in the host country to carry out their duties during the Olympic and Paralympics and for one month before and after. In other words, an OIAC can be used as a temporary visa, Yang said.

But he said the identity cards could not be used as free tickets to events.

“The OIAC is a working credential for carrying out duties during the Olympic and Paralympic Games, but it is not a free ticket. Only those who have reserved seating authorization will be permitted inside the venues to watch events.”

It is estimated there will be 21,600 accredited writers, photographers and broadcasters during the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

All press members must be nominated by an International Olympic Committee, NOC or International Sports Federation to achieve accreditation. Applications from individuals will not be accepted, Yang said.

(Source: China Daily/Agencies)Nov. 27 - “It’s the worst, worst, worst draw for China!” “A deadly and suffocating group!”

“We’re frightened to death before the competition starts!”

Pessimism is dominating the headlines of domestic newspapers as China’s hopes of making it into the 2010 World Cup in South Africa were dealt a huge blow on Sunday after an unfortunate draw. China’s opponents for the third-round World Cup qualifier in the Asian Zone include former Oceania champion Australia, Asian Cup champion Iraq and Asian Games champion Qatar - the so-called “group of death”.

From an initial group of 41 teams, potential Asian representatives in South Africa have been whittled down to 20. The top two finishers in each group of four from the third round will advance to the final round to determine which Asian teams get to compete in 2010.

After Sunday’s draw, there are doubts about whether China will even advance into the fourth qualification round, let alone the final tournament.

“The new coach did not give China any good luck. Actually we have been practically dead,” said a commentary in Titan Sports.

China named former Dalian Shide manager Vladimir Petrovic the head coach of the national team in September, hoping the Serbian would be able to lead China to a successful World Cup qualification bid in the next year. He was given a one-year contract with the Chinese Football Association (CFA), which will end just as China finishes its third-round qualification matches in 2008.

“We were waiting for good luck but it turned out really, really bad,” said Petrovic. “There are going to be tough competitions. We have no choice but to challenge the strong opponents.”

The result is also devastating for highly scrutinized CFA officials, who are looking for some relief after their team’s early group elimination from the Asian Cup in August.

“It’s been a bad year for Chinese soccer,” said team manager Wei Shaohui. “We were praying for some good luck after a disappointing result in the Asian Cup. We did not expect to be drawn into such a bad group.”

FIFA divided all the Asian teams into four tiers according to their 2006 World Cup preliminary round performances. China was a second-tier team, Iraq was third-tier and Qatar forth-tier.

But FIFA’s latest world rankings list Iraq 70th, 15 places higher than China. Qatar is ranked 86th by FIFA, just one place behind China. Group favorite Australia, a first-tier team, is ranked 48th.

The Aussies beat China 2-0 in Guangzhou in their latest meeting. In their previous seven matches, including the meeting in Guangzhou, Australia has won five times and China only once with one draw between them.

Without any distinct advantage over Iraq or Qatar, China has to play every match like it’s a matter of life and death.

“Now we have nothing to complain about. We have to play the third round matches like final round competitions,” Wei said. “We should keep the confidence and get 100 percent ready for every match.”

Never lose hope

Faced with such pessimistic speculation from local media, soccer official and players have chosen to be courageous and they insist all four teams in the “death group” are on equal footing.

“The most important thing is we never lose hope and courage before the final match,” said CFA Vice President Nan Yong. “Forget about the draw. We should get focused on the preparations. It’s a wide open group and we all have the same chance.”

“It’s a very close group and four teams might hold each other up until the final match,” Nan said. “It’s likely the situation will go in our favor.”

Nan’s expectations are boosted by the determination shown by some of China’s national team players.

“I do not think it’s a group of death,” said central back Zhang Yaokun. “I think we have a very good chance to make it into the next round.

“Australia, Iraq and Qatar are also worried about the possible complicated situation. We are very close to them, and if we win all three home games and fight out an away win or draw, it might be enough to get through.”

Striker Han Peng believes China will not be afraid of any opponent in the final round if it can escape from the death group alive.

“We are a very good team. Any team who looks down upon us will be punished,” Han said. “If we can beat all the odds, we will have a better chance in the 2010 World Cup finals.”

China has opened its qualifying campaign with two second-round victories over Myanmar, and will play its first third-round match away against Iraq on February 6.

But China’s progress has been overshadowed by its disastrous campaign in the 2007 AFC Asian Cup, which saw the previous edition’s runner-up fail to make it beyond the group stage for the first time in the tournament’s history.

International struggles

The nation has been struggling to play impressive soccer in major international competitions since it booked its first-ever spot in the 2002 World Cup under coach Bora Milutinovic.

That long-ago success, however, was mostly attributable to relatively easy qualifier match-ups, as archrivals Japan and Republic of Korea (ROK), as hosts, were given automatic spots.

It’s likely China, which also failed to advance into the final round of the 2006 Asian Zone World Cup qualifier, will fall further behind Japan and ROK, as both have been drawn into a more comfortable group.

Japan, qualified for the last three World Cups, will take on Bahrain, Oman and Thailand in Group Two when qualifying starts on February 6.

ROK - Asia’s most successful team on the world stage, having qualified for the past six World Cups - faces a trip to neighboring Pyongyang after being pitted against Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) in Group Three. The ROK, which made the semifinals in 2002 on home soil, will fancy its chances of making the seventh finals with Jordan and minnow Turkmenistan also in its group.

In Group Four, Saudi Arabia, the losing finalist to Iraq at the Asian Cup earlier this year, will face Uzbekistan, Lebanon and Singapore.

In the final group, Iran, whose credentials remain strong despite a number of senior players reaching the end of their international careers, takes on Kuwait, United Arab Emirates and Syria.

Asia’s best finish at a World Cup was in 2002 when ROK finished fourth in the continent’s first-ever hosting of the showpiece event.

(Source: Xinhua)BEIJING, Nov. 25 - Ticketing center of Beijing Organizing Committee of Olympic Games (BOCOG) announced Friday to give applications on October 30 the priority.

It means that the center will firstly deal with applications from people who registered authentic ID information at any Bank of China outlets or the Ticketing Call Center on October 30th.

According to a statement released by the BOCOG, The Bank of China outlets and the Ticketing Call Center will contact every individual who on October 30th registered with valid ID information and contact numbers from November 24th to 26th.

These applicants can submit ticket applications and payments by the time of 5:00 p.m. on November 30, rather than waiting for a random draw.

The organizers had kicked off the sale of the second batch of Olympic tickets at the end of last month, but the October 30 sale on a first come, first-serve basis was suspended after the booking system crashed due to overwhelming demand.

Only 43,000 tickets were sold last month before the sale windows were shut off.

Olympic ticket sales will resume next month and tickets will be allocated by a random draw. The first batch of 1.6 million tickets were allocated by lottery earlier this year.

A total of seven million tickets for the August 8-24 Games are available to the general public with nearly three quarters reserved for domestic sales.

Chinanews, Shenyang, November 23 ¨C The last winter drill for 1,300 Chinese Olympic athletes has been kicked off in Shenyang, in which nearly 50% of the Chinese Olympic teams have been found to have foreign coaches.

Since the end of the previous Olympic Games, China has invited 50 ¨C 60 foreign coaches, and currently there are 30-plus foreign coaches on the spot.

Most of such teams are potential gold medalists, and most of the foreign coaches are from Europe. For example, both Chinese basketball team and soccer team have European coaches. Fencing, wrestling, rowing, etc, have also invited European coaches.

The effort of foreign coaches has been proved to be effective, but Chinese athletes do not totally depend on them. Instead, China believes that foreign coaches will help improve communications between China and the rest of the world, which will be helpful to the development of sports worldwide.

(Source: Xinhua)Nov. 23 - The Milwaukee Bucks ran their winning streak to four games and improved to 5-0 at the Bradley Center with a 110-103 victory over the visiting Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday.

The Bucks were also honoring a legend in Kareem Abdul Jabbar, whose career began in Milwaukee and ended in Los Angeles. Kareem and Oscar Robertson lead Milwaukee to its only NBA title back in 1971.

Tonight’s game began much like Tuesday’s game against the Cavaliers, Milwaukee got behind by 11 early, then steadied themselves and dug in defensively, closing the gap to 47-46 at halftime.

The third quarter started with Bucks super rookie and the number 6 pick in this year’s 2007 NBA Draft, Yi Jianlian, scoring three quick baskets starting the third quarter with a couple of long jumpers in addition to an inside bucket.

With his Chinese parents in the stands watching their first NBA game, the rookie, who has been in a mini slump shooting just 23% his last three games, tonight hit 4/6 from the field and 4/4 from the FT line for a total of 12 points and 6 rebounds in 22 minutes of play.

Teammate and fellow power forward Charlie Villanueva had another strong showing off the bench hitting for 14 points and 9 rebounds in 28 minutes.

Michael Redd lead Milwaukee with 26 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assist while power forward Mo Williams had his fourth good game in a row chipping in 18 points and 9 assists.

Center Andrew Bogut had 15 points and Bobby Simmons had 11 points off the bench as the Bucks had 6 players in double figures. Kobe Bryant had a game high 27 points for the Lakers.

The Bucks next play All Star Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks at home this Saturday.