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
    亚洲免费无码在线| 国产品无码一区二区三区在线| 最近最好最新2019中文字幕免费| 无码国产伦一区二区三区视频| 亚洲最大激情中文字幕| 亚洲精品无码久久久久去q| 色噜噜狠狠成人中文综合| 人妻无码久久一区二区三区免费| 最好看最新的中文字幕免费| 亚洲AV无码成人精品区大在线| 亚洲中文字幕无码一区| 最近中文国语字幕在线播放视频| 久久无码国产| 久久国产精品无码一区二区三区 | 无码一区二区三区| 特级做A爰片毛片免费看无码| 最好看的2018中文在线观看| 国产成人无码精品一区在线观看| 亚洲色无码专区在线观看| 中文无码精品一区二区三区| 日本久久久精品中文字幕| 亚洲AV中文无码乱人伦在线视色| 人妻夜夜添夜夜无码AV| 亚洲精品无码av人在线观看| 中文字幕丰满乱子无码视频| √天堂中文官网8在线| 中文字幕网伦射乱中文| 亚洲v国产v天堂a无码久久| 国产V片在线播放免费无码| AA区一区二区三无码精片| 黄A无码片内射无码视频 | 日韩精品无码免费专区午夜 | 99精品一区二区三区无码吞精 | 亚洲AV区无码字幕中文色| 69堂人成无码免费视频果冻传媒| 最近中文字幕在线| 亚洲AV无码一区二区三区牛牛| 亚洲日韩VA无码中文字幕| 中文字幕不卡高清视频在线| 日韩精品无码人成视频手机| 亚洲国产精品无码久久久不卡|