IN BRIEF (Page 22)

SOCCER

Lucky fans to be sent to watch Champions League

Emirates Airline and Sohu.com recently launched an internet program called "Arsenal's Championship League Tour", which aims to find two lucky Chinese fans and send them to watch the 27th Champions League group match between Sevilla and Arsenal in Spain.

Anyone who is interested can log on to travel.sohu.com and answer soccer-related questions to win the right to make comments on the bulletin board forum. The two fans whose comments receive the most replies will win tickets to Spain with free accommodations.

Emirates has linked itself to sports all over the world.

Arsenal's 100 million pound agreement with Emirates Airline is the biggest club-sponsorship agreement in English Premier League history.

The agreement provides the Dubai-based international airline with naming rights to Arsenal's new stadium. The new 60,000-seat stadium will be known as Emirates Stadium for the next 15 years.

Bowling

National club league reaches final stage

The Wuhan stop, the next-to-last stop of the 2007 Vinda National Ten-pin Bowling Club League, ended over the weekend in Wuhan of Hubei Province.

Teams from Taiyuan and Shanghai finished first in the open and curve-ball categories, respectively.

The two teams, together with a second-place open category team from Wuxi, qualified for the finals in Guangzhou next month.

Rounds have already been held in Beijing, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Kunming, Dalian and Zhengzhou.

The league, organized by the Multi-ball Administrative Center of the Sports Bureau, CCTV Sports, the Chinese Bowling Association and the Guangdong Vinda Group, offers total prize money of 760,000 yuan ($100,000).

TENNIS

Annual veteran tennis event concludes

The 21st Beijing International Veteran Tennis Tournament ended on Monday at the Xiannongtan Tennis Center.

The three-day event attracted more than 300 players from Japan, South Korea, United States, France, Canada, Australia, Indonesia, Chinese Taipei and the Chinese mainland.

VIP demonstrations, men's and women's singles and doubles and mixed doubles were featured in the event which aimed to promote the sport in China and enhance friendship among the participating nations and regions.

It is part of the Beijing International Tennis Festival, which is organized by the Beijing Tennis Association, the Beijing Veteran Tennis Association and the Beijing International Sports Exchange Center.

(China Daily 10/24/2007 page22)