IN BRIEF (Page 22)
BADMINTON
Lin bows out of China Open in the first round
South Korea's Park Sung-hwan shockingly dismissed China's top shuttler Lin Dan in the first round of the China Open Super Series in Guangzhou yesterday.
The world No 1 wasted two match points and bowed to Park 21-19, 20-22, 17-21.
"I tried my best but he played better than me," said Lin. "I felt I ran out of energy in the third set and made too many mistakes.
"This was a bad day for me, so I hope to forget about it soon and play better badminton in the coming events."
Lin's loss was not the only surprising news at the China Open as Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia, another title favorite, decided to withdraw from the tournament on Tuesday.
According to his coach, Mulyo Handoyo, Hidayat wants to stay rested and prepare for the upcoming Hong Kong tournament.
DIVING
Mexican diver dedicates award to Chinese coach
MEXICO CITY: Mexican diver Paola Espinosa dedicated her newly won National Sports Prize to her Chinese coach, Ma Jin, at the awards ceremony at Mexico's presidential residence, Los Pinos, on Tuesday.
"I wish to dedicate this prize to my coach Ma Jin, whose arrival marked the start of a new era for diving in Mexico," Espinosa said in her acceptance speech.
Espinosa, 21, is one of Mexico's brightest hopes for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, she won three gold medals at the Pan-American Games in Rio de Janeiro this year and and another three at the World University Games in Bangkok.
"This award is my trainer's and mine, no one else's," she said. It is the second time Espinosa has received Mexico's highest sports honor. The first time was alongside her synchronized diving partner, Laura Suarez.
SOCCER
Beijing local university goes for double
The Beijing Institute of Technology proved it can produce some of China's best soccer at any level, as its amateur student and teacher teams advanced to the title games of the 2007 Jing-Du-Nian-Ci-An Cup Beijing Collegiate Amateur Soccer Championship.
After 76 games over the past month, the institute, whose team rocked the Chinese professional league last year by being promoted to the first division, is now going for a double win in the tournament, which attracted 35 teams from 27 universities.
Its student team defeated two-time champion Jili University to reach the final. It will next play Beijing University of Technology for the title.
Its teacher team was equally impressive and will face the teachers of Beijing University of Chemical Technology in the final.
SOFTBALL
Chinese softballers settle for fourth once again
China settled for a familiar fourth place at the Japan Cup International Softball Tournament, which wrapped up over the weekend.
China, once a two-time world runner-up and an Olympic silver medalist in the 1996 Atlanta Games, did not take a single victory in the tournament, which attracted the world's top three teams: the US, Japan and Australia.
China lost its opening match to the US 4-1 and was edged by the host team 3-2 in the next match. Facing Australia - which China defeated to win the China Cup last month - it could not display the same good form, losing 2-1 to place last in the round-robin phase.
In the next battle for a semifinal place, China lost again to the Aussies, 4-0.
Besides the victory in the China Cup, China has never beaten any of the world's top three teams in the past several years.
The US won the weekend's event by defeating Japan 3-2 in the final.
(China Daily 11/22/2007 page22)
