IN BRIEF (Page 22)

China Daily | Updated: 2007-05-09 07:16

TENNIS

Li Na makes first round through in Berlin Open

BERLIN: China's top women's player Li Na showed her game at the Berlin Open defeating Maria Kirilenko of Russia on Monday in the rain-affected first round.

The 14th seed, who was the 18th on the recently released WTA world rankings, worked hard to overcome a possible comeback from the Russian, winning 6-1, 3-6, 6-1 at the German Open, a key claycourt warm-up for the French Open.

In other first-round matches, 13th seed Shahar Peer of Israel beat German hope Anna-Lena Groenefeld 6-1, 6-2 and France's Severine Bremond was a 6-2, 6-1 winner over another German player, Sabine Lisicki.

Miscellaneous

Sport Show 2007 to kick off in Chengdu

The 20th China International Sporting Goods Show (China SportShow 2007) will be held at New International Convention & Exposition Center in Chengdu, China's Sichuan Province from May 17-20.

Covering 100,000 square meters, the China SportShow 2007 will be divided into 8 categories - Sportswear, Outdoor Sports and Leisure, Fitness Equipment and Accessories, Stadium and Gym, Competition Equipment, Sports Apparatus, Textile & Shoe Material and Others.

By the time, about 1,000 sports enterprises, both from home and abroad, are expected to gather in Chengdu.

Before the opening of the Sportshow, a new event, the Chinese Sports Marketing Resources Show, will open on May 16. At that show, Chinese sports marketing resources, such as the sports events and sports stars will be promoted.

SNOOKER

Ding finishes 9th, Higgins on top of world rankings

LONDON: Chinese snooker prodigy Ding Junhui finished 9th on the world snooker rankings for the 2007-2008 campaign after the world championships concluded the season on Tuesday morning.

John Higgins was on the top after beating Mark Selby to win the World Championships. The 31-year-old Scot, who last won the tournament in 1998, however, had already assured the No 1 finish with his run to the final.

Leading rankings:

1. John Higgins (Scot) 42,250 points; 2. Graeme Dott (Sco) 37,775; 3. Shaun Murphy (Eng) 37,700; 4. Ken Doherty (Ire)35,800; 5. Ronnie O'Sullivan (Eng) 34,500; 6. Peter Ebdon (Eng) 33,550; 7. Neil Robertson (Aus) 33,125; 8. Stephen Hendry (Sco) 32,475; 9. Ding Junhui (Chn) 30,800; 10. Stephen Maguire (Sco) 30,550.

(China Daily 05/09/2007 page22)