USEUROPEAFRICAASIA 中文雙語Fran?ais
China
Home / China / China

With Olympics, sport gains new stature in China

By Sun Xiaochen | China Daily | Updated: 2016-06-20 08:15

Golf's return to the Olympics is boosting the image of a game that has been associated with money and corruption in China, and the country's sports authorities are getting behind it in a big way.

Amid the government crackdown on unauthorized golf courses and related corruption, the Chinese Golf Association since 2013 has been ambitiously nursing a group of elite players with support for technical training, physical therapy, facilities and logistical arrangements.

The players include women's major championship winner Feng Shanshan and men's domestic No 2 Li Haotong.

The association is focused on the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics in August, when golf makes its way back to the quadrennial sporting extravaganza for the first time since 1904.

The goal for Chinese golf is to first qualify as many homegrown players as possible for the Rio Olympics, and then to promote the game as an affordable exercise for China's ever-increasing middle class, rather than just a luxury pastime for elitists, it said.


To better support golfers under the national umbrella, the association has hired a crew of foreign coaches, including Australian Greg Norman, a two-time British Open champion and former men's No 1, and South Korea's LPGA veteran Park Hee-jung to guide the men's and women's teams.

Fitness trainers and physical therapists have also been sent overseas at the nation's expense to accompany promising players and keep them in top physical condition en route to the Games.

Under International Golf Federation rules, the top 15 world-ranked players as of July 11 of both genders will qualify for one of Rio's 60 slots in the men's and women's divisions, with a limit of four players of each gender per country.

The remaining spots will go the highest-ranked players from countries that do not already have two golfers qualified.

Feng, the current world No 12 woman who won the 2012 LPGA Championship - the mainland's first major title in golf - is spearheading medal hopes for Rio, while her younger compatriot Lin Xiyu, ranked No 58 in the world, is also angling for a slot.

On the men's side, Li, who just fired a bogey-free 64 to claim his first European Tour title at the China Open last month, has improved his world ranking to No 134 - the second highest among Chinese golfers - and will compete with two fellow seniors, No 127 Wu Ashun and No 195 Liang Wenchong, for two possible tickets to Rio.

As the country's only legitimate medal hope in Rio, the 27-year-old Feng, who has 14 professional titles to her credit, makes no secret of her ambition.

"If I could choose from an Olympics gold medal and a major championship, I would definitely go with the medal," said the Guangdong native.

China's national golf team, like the country's tennis team, is assembled solely for competition at the Olympic Games, unlike group sports such as basketball or soccer, where the national team is composed of a fixed set of players who receive ongoing support and training.

Golfers are assigned temporarily to the national team for Olympic competition, and work around their schedule of professional tour events.

This approach follows the country's traditional State-run sports system, which has produced abundant gold medals at the Olympics, said Tan Jianxiang, a sports sociology researcher at South China Normal University.

Zhang Xiaoning, vice-president of the golf association, said, "There is unbalanced development between Olympic sports and non-Olympic sports in China. Golf had been restricted to a small group of people for a long time.

"But we have a totally different situation now. We are set to have more support from the public as well as the government, and we are looking forward to seeing Chinese players tee off in Rio."

sunxiaochen@chinadaily.com.cn

With Olympics, sport gains new stature in China
Feng Shanshan watches her shot on the ninth hole during the third round of the Meijer LPGA Classic on Saturday at Blythefield Country Club in Belmont, Michigan. Gregory Shamus /Afp

Editor's picks
Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

Registration Number: 130349
FOLLOW US
主站蜘蛛池模板: 国产的一级毛片最新在线直播| 99精品国产高清一区二区| 一级毛片试看三分钟| 91在线激情在线观看| 青青青视频免费| 特级毛片免费播放| 最近中文字幕mv免费高清视频7| 我和麻麻的混乱生活| 国产韩国精品一区二区三区| 国产在线视频www色| 免费大片在线观看网站| 亚洲一级黄色片| 一区二区三区视频| 久草视频在线免费| 看看屋在线看看电影| 朝桐光中文字幕| 天天操天天舔天天干| 国产在线看片网站| 亚洲精品第二页| 中文字幕精品无码一区二区三区| 91人成在线观看网站| 美美女高清毛片视频免费观看 | 免费看少妇作爱视频| 五月综合色婷婷在线观看| chinese激烈高潮HD| 色欲色av免费观看| 欧美午夜伦y4480私人影院| 婷婷人人爽人人做人人添| 国产成人免费ā片在线观看老同学 | 国产va免费精品观看精品| 亚洲国产成人久久综合一区| 一本无码中文字幕在线观| japanese日本护士xxxx18一19| 18岁女人毛片| 真实国产乱子伦对白视频| 日本欧美中文字幕| 国产精品免费视频网站| 人妻巨大乳hd免费看| 中文字幕一区二区三区日韩精品| 国产精品亚洲四区在线观看| 欧美日韩精品一区二区三区高清视频|