Yao Ming and his girlfriend Ye Li China's All Star NBA centre Yao Ming will wed his teenage sweetheart in August, after an eight-year courtship, it was reported Monday. Yao, who has kept his love life closely guarded from the media, will marry Ye Li in a private family ceremony possibly in Shanghai, the eastern metropolis where they were born, met and began dating, the Titan Sports Weekly said. "This is a match based on pure love," the paper said. The 2.26 metre centre first met Ye in 1999 when he was playing for the Shanghai Sharks men's team and the 1.9 metre Ye was with the club's women's team. Ye has since gone on to play for the national side, but has been plagued with injuries in recent years. The two were seen walking hand-in-hand at the closing ceremony of the 2004 Athens Olympics, when their courtship first became public. According to Titan Sports, Ye, 25, has been a regular at Yao's home in Texas. She has also studied English at the University of Houston. Yao, 27, is expected to return to China in July to train and will play matches with the national team in September. The paper played down widespread rumors on the Internet and in the Chinese media that Yao's wedding would be broadcast live on television, with China's Olympic gold medal-winning hurdler Liu Xiang acting as the master-of-ceremonies. "On that day there will be no media, basically it will only be relatives from both sides attending," the paper said. 點(diǎn)擊查看更多雙語新聞 (Reuters)

本周一消息，來自中國(guó)的NBA全明星中鋒姚明與十幾歲時(shí)相識(shí)的女友經(jīng)歷了八年的愛情長(zhǎng)跑后，將于今年8月完婚。 據(jù)《體壇周報(bào)》消息，一直嚴(yán)密保密自己愛情生活的姚明可能將與葉莉在上海舉行一個(gè)家庭結(jié)婚儀式。上海是姚明和葉莉出生、相識(shí)以及開始相戀的地方。 報(bào)道中說：“這是兩個(gè)真心相愛的人的結(jié)合?！? 1999年，這位身高2米26的中鋒與葉莉初次相識(shí)，當(dāng)時(shí)他在上海東方大鯊魚俱樂部的男籃打球，而身高1米9的葉莉則在這個(gè)俱樂部的女籃效力。 之后葉莉繼續(xù)為國(guó)家隊(duì)效力，但近幾年她一直受傷病困擾。 在2004年雅典奧運(yùn)會(huì)的閉幕式上，這對(duì)體壇情侶手拉著手出現(xiàn)在人們的視線中，兩人的戀情首次公開。 據(jù)《體壇周報(bào)》報(bào)道，今年25歲的葉莉是姚明得克薩斯家中的?？?，此外，她還在休斯敦大學(xué)學(xué)習(xí)英語。 27歲的姚明可能將于七月份回國(guó)參加訓(xùn)練，并將于九月隨國(guó)家隊(duì)打一些比賽。 此前網(wǎng)上和各媒體廣泛流傳的傳聞稱，姚明的婚禮會(huì)在電視上現(xiàn)場(chǎng)直播，跨欄奧運(yùn)冠軍劉翔將擔(dān)任他們的婚禮司儀?！扼w壇周報(bào)》對(duì)這一傳聞則是“淡而化之”。 《體壇周報(bào)》稱，“姚明婚禮那天不會(huì)有媒體在場(chǎng)，參加他們婚禮的只會(huì)是兩家的親戚。” （英語點(diǎn)津姍姍編輯）