 In coaching, turnabout is fair play
By Chen Xiangfeng (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-08-12 08:11 Not only are Chinese coaching abroad; for the first time in history, more than a dozen foreign coaches are helping Chinese athletes go for the gold at the ongoing Olympics. Basketball and soccer are the best known examples, but athletes in a host of other sports are also benefiting from the knowledge and experience of coaches from overseas. Under the tutelage of Australian coach Thomas Maher, China's women's basketball team has its sights set on the podium at the Beijing Games. On the men's side, China is looking to improve its 8th-place finish in Athens with the help of Lithuanian coach Jonas Kazlauskas. China's national soccer teams have had several foreign coaches, but the relationship has not always been smooth. Current women's head coach Shang Ruihua took over from Elisabeth Loisel in March after acrimonious disputes between Loisel and her players and officials brought the Frenchwoman's tenure to a premature close. Men's Olympic soccer coach Ratomir Dujkovic is still on the payroll, but he was virtually stripped of the coaching job three weeks before the Olympics after his senior team failed to reach the 2010 World Cup final. Since then, Chinese coach Yin Tiesheng has held the reins, while Dujkovic remains in the background. Coaching in China can be controversial at home as well. When Masayo Imura, 55, came to China to coach synchronized swimming, it caused a stir back in Japan, a traditional power in the sport. The Chinese team has made rapid progress, including a second-place finish in both duet and team synchronized swimming at the 2006 Doha Asian Games, where it defeated Japan for the first time. The largest - and arguably most popular and successful - group of foreign coaches working in China comes from South Korea. Field hockey coach Kim Chang-back is an example. Kim took the helm of China's women's field hockey team in 1999 and has made it a contender for the gold medal in its third Olympic Games. Kim's success has inspired some of his compatriots to try their luck in China. Kim Sang-ryul followed in Kim Chang-back's footsteps and is now enjoying success with the China's men's field hockey team. Kang Jae-won is the fourth consecutive South Korean coach for the China's women's handball team, which won a bronze medal at the 1984 Los Angeles Games. Kang came to China last year, succeeding South Koreans Wui Yeong-man, Chung Hyung-kyun and Kim Gap-soo. China's taekwondo team is also benefiting from the expertise of a South Korean coach, Lee Dae-sung. In fencing, China invited world champion Christian Bauer of France to coach the national saber team in 2006. Another Frenchman, Daniel Morelon, has proved to be an inspirational coach for China's cycling team and has developed sprinter Guo Shuang into a world class athlete. Other foreign coaches on the sidelines for China during this Olympics include Igor Grinko of Lithuania in rowing; Marek Ploch of Poland in canoe/kayak (flatwater); Chrisstian Bahmann, Hans Guergen Rong, and Angelika Bahmann of Germany in canoe/kayak (slalom); Wolfgang Nitschke, also from Germany, in wrestling; Juan Jane Giralt of Spain in water polo; and Fassati Marti of Czech Republic and Sutton Rechard Dylan of South Africa in tennis. (China Daily 08/12/2008 page12) |
