IN BRIEF (Page 23)

Shooting

Du, Wei snatch gold in Beijing

Chinese sharpshooter Du Li rallied yesterday to pick up gold in the women's 50m rifle three positions with 692.7 points at the Good Luck Beijing ISSF World Cup.

German world record holder, Sonja Pfeilschifter, won silver with 690.8 points while the bronze went to Russian markswoman Lioubov Galkina, who notched 585.3 points.

Another Chinese shooter, 26-year-old Yin Wen, who entered the final in fourth place, started with a terrible 7.2 point shot and eventually plunged into last place.

Wei Ning added another gold for China later yesterday with 97 hits in women's skeet. Italian shooter Diana Bacosi and American Haley Dunn took the silver and bronze with an equal score of 94 hits.

Soccer

Mexico vanquishes China

SEATTLE: Cesar Villaluz scored early and a struggling Mexican side dominated China in a 1-0 friendly victory on Wednesday before a crowd of 56,416 that roared, chanted, sang and blew horns throughout the night.

The fourth-largest soccer crowd in Seattle's history was jubilant, doing "The Wave", the 1980s fan phenomenon supposedly founded in Seattle, during the United States' national anthem before the game. Only MLS friendlies with Manchester United in 2006 and Real Madrid in 2003 and a 1976 NASL exhibition game between Seattle and the New York Cosmos in which Pele scored two goals in the first event held in the old Kingdome drew more soccer fans in Seattle than Wednesday night's match.

China had just three shots and it didn't get the ball into Mexico's penalty area more than a few times. That left veteran goalkeeper Oswaldo Sanchez, one of the only recognizable names on Mexico's roster, mostly idle. He made just one save.

Miscellaneous

Beijing to host action sports

The Action Sports Tour China Invitational will kick off in Beijing International Stadium in Daxing District on April 19-20. It will feature Skate Park and Vertical competitions and a BMX Vertical exhibition. Six Chinese riders will compete with 26 representatives from eight countries including the US, UK, Canada, Denmark, Brazil, and Australia. The Chinese athletes won the right to compete in a Chinese qualifying tour conducted by Xingyi New Media Investment Co Ltd and the China Extreme Sports Association in March.

Sponsored by NBC Universal and Live Nation and consisting of five major, multi-sport events, the AST debuted in June 2005. The AST Beijing Invitational is the first to be held outside the US. This global expansion signifies the rising popularity of action sports in the past two years.

Top athletes including Skate Park rider Rodolfo Ramos, Skate Vertical rider Pierre-Luc Gagnon, and the legendary Jamie Bestwick in BMX Vertical will all attend the Beijing event.

(China Daily 04/18/2008 page23)