IN BRIEF (Page 22)
Soccer
China U-23s upset Holland in Toulon Cup
China beat the Netherlands 2-1 to lead group B in the Toulon Cup in France on Sunday.
Two goals from forward Jiang Ning helped China to the win, giving them four points from two matches.
Portugal defeated Ghana 1-0, and a draw the African side today will give China a semifinal slot.
China withstood the Netherlands' attacks with ten players in the game's final minutes after forward Yang Xu was sidelined with injury to the head and China had used up all three substitutes.
Yang was sent to hospital and was diagnosed with mild concussion, but he might be able to play in the next match, according to Sina.com.
Fencing
In-form fencer Tan makes it five in a row
Olympic silver medalist and world champion Tan Xue won her fifth World Cup titles by winning the women's sabre individual competition over the weekend in Tianjin.
Tan dominated the final match against Chow Tsz Ki from Hong Kong, leaving her opponent little chance before wrapping up the match 15-7 in a quick fashion. This is Tan's fifth straight championship in the 06-07 season after her victories in Viet Nam, Italy, Hungary and Moscow. Tan also anchored the Chinese squad to win the team championship with a close victory over Russia in the gold medal bout.
Tan, a Tianjin native, was apparently inspired by the cheers from the home fans as she eliminated a number of higher-ranked fencing en route to title.
Thanks to her successive wins, Tan, currently world No 3, is ahead in the qualifying race for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.
Miscellaneous
Children's gymnastics show held in Beijing
The Li-Ning Cup China National Children Gymnastics Demonstration was held last week at the Shougang Basketball Center.
Seven hundred and sixty-seven children athletes from 22 of China's provinces, municipalities, autonomous regions, Hong Kong and Macao Special Administrative Regions and Thailand took part in the event which also witnessed children-care special delegations from Japan, Taiwan and Malaysia.
Since the inauguration in 1991, the 17-year-old event has attracted participation from 10352 kindergartens and about 3 million children taking part.
Li-Ning Company is the official sponsor of several Chinese teams including the national gymnastics team.
(China Daily 06/05/2007 page22)
