IN BRIEF (Page 22)
Olympics
Chinese snap up 1 million tickets in a month
Beijing organisers have received 230,000 orders for 1.09 million tickets for next year's Olympic Games in the first month of sales, according to the official website.
The most sought after tickets are for the opening ceremony on August 8, while tickets to basketball, where Houston Rockets center Yao Ming is likely to lead the local challenge, and diving are also selling fast.
Three-quarters of the 7 million tickets that will be available to the public went on sale to domestic customers over the Internet, by telephone, and at certain branches of the Bank of China on April 15.
Prices range from 30 yuan ($3.5) for preliminary rounds of some sports to 5,000 yuan ($646) for the opening ceremony.
Golf
Midea China Classic set to tee off in September
The inaugural Midea China Classic will break new ground at the reputable Royal Orchid International Golf Club in Guangzhou for the $400,000 tournament from September 13-16, 2007. It will be one of six Asian Tour tournaments staged in China this season.
"We are proud to join forces with the Asian Tour and China Golf Association to establish the Midea China Classic. We are confident that this new tournament will put the city of Guangzhou on the golfing map and we are committed to make it a great success by pledging to stage the tournament for a minimum of three years," said Vice President of Midea Group, Huang Xiaoming.
Wang Liwei, Deputy Director General of the Multi-ball Games Administrative Centre of General Administration of Sport China, said: "The launch of the Midea China Classic is a wonderful reflection of the continued growth of the sport in our country and we are proud to be a part of this wonderful event.
Basketball
Yao Ming to return to China in June
Chinese basketball star Yao Ming will return to the Chinese national team in the middle of June to join its summer training camp, according to the Chinese Basketball Association.
The association reports the Chinese center has said in a phone conversation that he has cancelled a scheduled foot operation and instead will return to China next month.
It has been around 10 days since Yao Ming's NBA team, the Houston Rockets, were knocked out of the NBA playoff. Yao Ming previously told media that he would have an operation on his ankle joint after the playoff, after which he would recuperate for three to four weeks.
But later, his agent said the operation wasn't confirmed yet.
(China Daily 05/18/2007 page22)
