IN BRIEF (Page 22)

Basketball

Yi shines in first quarter in Bucks' loss

Milwaukee Bucks rookie Yi Jianlian of China finished with nine points and seven rebounds in 20 minutes of play, but the Bucks could still not match up to Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony of the Denver Nuggets. The Bucks lost their preseason exhibition game 104-78 on Tuesday night at Green Bay's Resch Center.

Iverson scored 22 points to lead the game while Anthony added 16 for the Nuggets, who never trailed in the game.

Yi, the NBA's No 6 draft pick, played the entire first quarter but saw only eight minutes of action the rest of the way.

Although Yi has shown flashes of his talent and has a good touch, he looks much more comfortable on the perimeter than in the paint, and he acknowledged that he still needs to get stronger with the ball.

"Inside is my weak point. I need to protect the ball better and get stronger so we can play better inside," Yi said.

Souvenir badges of Yao Ming to be released

In a bid to highlight the sportsmanship of Chinese athletes before the 2008 Beijing Olympics, 200 sets of gold, silver and bronze souvenir badges bearing the image of basketball icon Yao Ming will be released on October 23 in Beijing.

With every badge also bearing the signature of the Houston Rockets center, the items are believed to become hot collectibles.

Snooker

Liu Song into last 16 of Royal London Watches GP

China's Liu Song finished second in Group C by beating Joe Delaney 4-2 on Tuesday and qualified for the last 16 of the Royal London Watches Grand Prix.

Matthew Stevens beat Dave Harold 4-1 to match Liu's three wins, but Liu went through with a superior frame difference.

After sharing the first four frames with Delaney, Liu won the last two, closing with a run of 69.

"I'm very pleased, I was nervous today but when I saw Peter Ebdon was 3-2 up on Mark Selby, I knew it was down to me," said 23-year-old Liu, who is based at the World Snooker Academy in Sheffield and is now through to the last 16 of a ranking event for the first time. Liu's fellow Ding Junhui continued to struggle with slumping form and failed to advance after two wins and three losses in Group D.

(China Daily 10/18/2007 page22)