Latest news with #TeamChina
Canada Standard
11-05-2025
- Sport
- Canada Standard
Chinese men's 4x400m team breaks national record at 2025 World Athletics Relays
GUANGZHOU, China, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Team China set a new national record in the men's 4x400m in 3 minutes and 1.87 seconds at the 2025 World Athletics Relays here on Saturday in rain. The competition serves as a main qualification for relay events at the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, features 6 events including men's, women's and mixed 4x100m and 4x400m. The top 14 teams in each event (except for mixed 4x100m) will earn berths for Tokyo 2025. According to the rules, the top 14 teams in men's and women's 4x100m, 4x400m and mixed 4x400m consist of 8 spots booked Saturday and 6 spots Sunday. In each event, the top 2 teams in each of the 4 heats qualified for the finals and Tokyo 2025, with the remaining teams competing for 6 other spots per event in the second qualification round Sunday. The Chinese squad for the men's 4x400m, composed of rookies Liang Baotang, Li Yiqing, Zhang Qining and Fu Haoran, finished second in Heat 1, breaking the national record, reaching the final and qualifying for Tokyo 2025. "My mind was blank when I was running, just to do my best," said the fourth leg Fu, who caught up to the second place by surpassing a Spainish runner. Mixed 4x100m is a newly-introduced event for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games, yet was not included in Tokyo 2025. In the event's global debut, Team Canada finished first in qualification with a time of 40.90 seconds. The Chinese quartet of Huang Shuping, Kong Lingyao, Chen Jinfeng and Chen Guanfeng qualified for the final by clocking 41.30 seconds. "It's interesting to mix and mingle boys and girls in 4X100m. We are really excited and happy for the introduction of the event," said Chen Guanfeng. Veteran Xie Zhenye led Team China in men's 4x100m, and the squad clocked 38.30 seconds to finish third in Heat 4, only 0.005 seconds shy of Team Italy, who finished second in the heat. South Africa and Japan set a new world-leading mark with 37.84 seconds. Drama unfolded in the women's 4x100m as China's third-leg runner Liang Xiaojing and fourth-leg runner Ge Manqi made a mistake in passing the baton, finishing sixth in the heat. Elsewhere, the United States made a world-leading mark of 3 minutes and 11.37 seconds in the mixed 4x400m. Spain set a new women's 4x100m national record of 42.18 seconds.
Japan Times
06-05-2025
- Sport
- Japan Times
'Shared dream': China celebrates Zhao's world snooker breakthrough
Zhao Xintong's stunning World Snooker Championship triumph went viral back home on Tuesday, with trailblazer Ding Junhui leading the tributes to China's latest sporting superstar. The 28-year-old Zhao became the first Asian to win the prestigious title with an 18-12 victory over Mark Williams in the final at the Crucible in Sheffield, England, on Monday. On Chinese social media platform Weibo the hash tag "Zhao Xintong wins world championship" had 120 million views as of Tuesday morning and was among the top-trending stories. Ding, China's first snooker star and the beaten world finalist in 2016, said Zhao's victory was "the best reward for all the Chinese snooker fans who have long supported the sport and waited for this day." "The darkness we once walked through — it was all so that people could see the light," he wrote on Weibo. "Today Zhao Xintong did it! What he won is the shared dream of generations of Chinese snooker players. "I'm happy for you and proud of the rise of Chinese strength!" Left-hander Zhao was playing at the Crucible as an amateur, having lost his tour card in January 2023 for his part in a match-fixing scandal. That controversy threatened to derail Zhao's promising career when he was hit with a 20-month ban. Zhao accepted charges of being a party to another player fixing two matches and betting on matches himself in a controversy that led to 10 Chinese players being punished, two for life. Zhao Xintong competes in the final match of the World Snooker Championship in Sheffield, England, on Monday. | Action Images / via Reuters The scandal continued to weigh on some Chinese sports fans on Tuesday, but for the most part, social media users celebrated a source of national pride. "He deserves forgiveness," one person wrote. A beaming Zhao accepted the trophy with the Chinese flag draped over his shoulders. "This isn't a miracle but the inevitable result of years of quiet dedication," another Weibo user said. Others expressed hopes that Zhao's win would mark a watershed moment for Chinese snooker. "How many years have we waited? He has made history!" another user said. Like many of China's top players, Zhao has based himself in the northern English city of Sheffield, the unofficial home of snooker. Si Jiahui, who reached the semifinals of the 2023 world championship and also trains in Sheffield, congratulated "Brother Tong." "I'm learning from you! My idol has changed!" he wrote on Weibo. Lei Peifan, who stunned defending champion Kyren Wilson in the first round at the Crucible, wrote that Zhao had set "a new milestone in Chinese snooker." He added: "Go Team China." Snooker's popularity in China has surged over the past two decades, fueled by the success of Ding, who served as an inspiration to Zhao and many other budding Chinese snooker players. A record 10 Chinese were among the final 32 players competing at the Crucible, reflecting just how prominent the country now is in the sport. China has also enjoyed considerable success in women's snooker, with Bai Yulu and Hong Kong's Ng On-yee both winning the women's world crown. In popular culture, snooker has featured in Chinese dramas including "Amidst a Snowstorm of Love," which follows a former snooker prodigy who returns to the sport after a career setback and falls in love with another player. The television series gained widespread popularity in China upon its release in 2024.
France 24
06-05-2025
- Sport
- France 24
'Shared dream': China celebrates Zhao's world snooker breakthrough
The 28-year-old Zhao became the first Asian to win the prestigious title with an 18-12 victory over Mark Williams in the final at the Crucible in Sheffield on Monday. On Chinese social media platform Weibo the hash tag "Zhao Xintong wins world championship" had 120 million views as of Tuesday morning and was among the top-trending stories. Ding, China's first snooker star and the beaten world finalist in 2016, said Zhao's victory was "the best reward for all the Chinese snooker fans who have long supported the sport and waited for this day". "The darkness we once walked through -- it was all so that people could see the light," he wrote on the X-like Weibo. "Today Zhao Xintong did it! What he won is the shared dream of generations of Chinese snooker players. "I'm happy for you and proud of the rise of Chinese strength!" Left-hander Zhao was playing at the Crucible as an amateur, having lost his tour card in January 2023 for his part in a match-fixing scandal. That controversy threatened to derail Zhao's promising career when he was hit with a 20-month ban. Zhao accepted charges of being a party to another player fixing two matches and betting on matches himself in a controversy that led to 10 Chinese players being punished, two for life. The scandal continued to weigh on some Chinese sports fans on Tuesday, but for the most part, social media users celebrated a source of national pride. Years of dedication "He deserves forgiveness," one person wrote. A beaming Zhao accepted the trophy with the Chinese flag draped over his shoulders. "This isn't a miracle but the inevitable result of years of quiet dedication," another Weibo user said. Others expressed hopes that Zhao's win would mark a watershed moment for Chinese snooker. "How many years have we waited? He has made history!" another user said. Like many of China's top players, Zhao has based himself in the northern English city of Sheffield, the unofficial home of snooker. Si Jiahui, who reached the semi-finals of the 2023 world championship and also practises in Sheffield, congratulated "Brother Tong". "I'm learning from you! My idol has changed!" he wrote on Weibo. Lei Peifan, who stunned defending champion Kyren Wilson in the first round at the Crucible, wrote that Zhao had set "a new milestone in Chinese snooker". He added: "Go Team China." Snooker's popularity in China has surged over the past two decades, fuelled by the success of Ding, who served as an inspiration to Zhao and many other budding Chinese snooker players. A record 10 Chinese were among the final 32 players competing at the Crucible, reflecting just how prominent the country now is in the sport. China has also enjoyed considerable success in women's snooker, with Bai Yulu and Hong Kong's Ng On-yee both winning the women's world crown. In popular culture snooker has featured in Chinese dramas including "Amidst a Snowstorm of Love", which follows a former snooker prodigy who returns to the sport after a career setback and falls in love with another player. The television series gained widespread popularity in China upon its release in 2024.
