IN BRIEF (Page 22)

Basketball

National university league tips off in Changchun

Considered the highest level of university basketball in China, the 361 China University Basketball Super League's (CUBS) 2007-08 season tipped off on November 6 in Changchun.

In the North Zone, defending champion Northeastern Normal University defeated Liaoning University 68-62. Liaoning was last year's surprise team after its 13-match regular season winning streak.

Organized by the Federation of University Sports of China and the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA), the league, which features 17 men's and 12 women's teams, is billed as the best of its kind in China by the CBA. It will feature regular, semifinal and final matches on a home-and-away basis.

Yang Liguo, secretary-general of the federation, and Ding Wuhao, chairman of the 361 Sportswear Company, both urged people to pay attention to China's grassroots basketball development.

Cycling

Russian rider wins stage, still in yellow

Jenis Galimzyanov of the Russian National Team broke the pack and won the 125-km third stage of the Haima Tour on Hainan Island on Tuesday.

Galimzyanov kept his yellow jersey and was also the sprint leader.

Ma Haijun of Team China Skoda remains the best Asian rider of the tour and will don the green jersey for the fourth stage. Ma, third in the overall standings and Zou Rongxi, fifth in the standings, helped China stand atop the leader board of the team results.

China national team member Hui Guo crashed into a photographer at the finish line and was seriously injured. The photographer only had a facial bruise.

The fourth stage is a 188-km ride from Haikou to Danzhou.

Judo

Beijing hosts world team championships

The 2007 World Judo Team Championships will be held at the Beijing Chaoyang Gymnasium on November 17 and 18.

The event, organized by the International Judo Federation, the China Judo and Wrestling Administrative Center, the Chinese Judo Association and the Beijing Sports Bureau, will attract eight men's and women's teams.

The women's teams are from Japan, Mongolia, France, Russia, Cuba, Algeria, Oceania and (host) China. Their competition will be on November 17. The men's teams come from Japan, South Korea, France, Russia, Brazil, Algeria, Oceania and China. Their battle will begin on November 18.

The women's competition categories are -48, -52, -57, -63, -70, -78 and +78 while the men's are -60, -66, -73, -81, -90, -100 and +100. Every match will last five minutes.

The event is a warm-up for the Beijing Olympics and organizers are expecting some of the world's top judokas to take part.

Miscellaneous

National skip-rope championship to be held

China will hold the first-ever "Ling Dian Cup" skip-rope national championships in December as a part of its ambitious national fitness program.

The tournament, organized by China's State General Administration of Sports and China International Sports Tourism Company, is expected to attract more than 200 elite rope jumpers from all over the nation to compete in 22 events in three categories.

Skip jump is generally known as a pre-game training exercise for boxers. But it is also very popular in China with an estimated history of more than 1,500 years.

"It is very easy to see rope jumpers in China," said Gong Yemin, an official with the administration. "It is probably the best, easiest and cheapest fat-burning workout."

Gong and his colleagues have been working on setting up standard rules for skip jump competitions and he said the championship was the best way to test the new rules.

(China Daily 11/08/2007 page22)