Who's hot, who's not in China sports (Week 2)

All pain, but no gain in kungfu fighter's death

A month has passed since Shangguan Pengfei's tragic death. And the game's sponsors are doing everything they can to dodge the responsibility.

Earlier this week, the martial arts management center blamed the Henan team for submitting a false pre-game medical report for Shangguan, who was found to be an HBV carrier and which would have kept him from participating in kungfu matches, according to the rules.

The death of Shangguan Pengfei triggered fury among Chinese netizens, who criticized the poor medical performance by the event organizer as there was no first-aid service available and its reluctance to transfer Shangguan to a big hospital at a higher cost, which resulted in his missing the best window of treatment.

My spin: I was told the idiom “Better late than never” when I was a third grader in primary school. But it seems to me that some bureaucracy hasn't learned that real-life lesson. If there is any bright side to Shangguan's tragedy, it is that it exposed the loopholes that prevail among a string of China's sporting events and made people reflect on their mistakes.

What's the buzz

Jeremy Clarkson displays poor taste

The 51-year-old Sun columnist Jeremy Clarkson offended many on Saturday by comparing synchronized swimmers to the 21 Chinese cockle pickers who were killed in rising tides in Morecambe Bay, Lancashire, in 2004. The malicious comment soon triggered a wave of public outrage, and the Chinese embassy in the UK protested on its website the next day.

Zheng Jie ends WTA drought

China's Zheng Jie won her first WTA title after defeating Italy's Flavia Pennetta in the final at the 2012 ASB Classic women's tennis tournament in Auckland on Sunday. It is her first title in more than five years. The 280 championship points also help Zheng jump 10 places to sit at No 38 in WTA's latest world rankings.

Super Dan falls short in titan clash

Lee Chong Wei snatched his first comeback win against Lin Dan in the men's finals at the 2012 Victor Korea Open on Monday, making some Chinese badminton fans jittery with less than 200 days before the London Olympics. But Lin stays cool, attributing the loss to his physical condition, which was affected by an intensive schedule. 

Crowd trouble Part 2 in CBA

Beijing and Liaoning were fined by the league for misbehavior by fans throwing bottles and such onto the court during games last week. And during Wednesday's Bayi Rockets-Zhejiang Golden Bulls game in Ningbo, another scuffle occurred. It's reported that JR Smith's family, unhappy that the referee failed to blow the whistle on a hard foul on Smith, had words with Rockets fans, and the verbal confrontation escalated into a physical one. Smith tried to jump into the spectator zone twice to help but was stopped by security. After the game, Rockets fans besieged the Golden Bulls' bus and demanded the team apologize, which they did. The riot is deemed CBA's worst one so far this season.

click here to watch the moment of scuffle.

Shenhua stage star race in CFA

After landing French striker Nicolas Anelka in December, Chinese soccer club Shanghai Shenhua showed its ambition far beyond just one blockbuster deal, and its plot will be carried out along with tons of trade rumors. Zhu Jun, boss of the club, declared on Weibo on Saturday that Shenhua will pursue Chelsea striker Didier Drogba if their “friendly rivals” fail to reach a deal with him in 10 days. The pressured Guangzhou Evergrande released a statement on its website the next morning, clarifying that they are not in talks with Drogba as a potential answer to Shenhua's ambitions. Meanwhile, Spain media also revealed that Shenhua is going for Real Madrid striker Kaka.

Yao Ming becomes panda ambassador

Finishing off his first semester in college, Yao Ming was spotted at a political meeting in Shanghai on Tuesday. The next day he flew to Sichuan to release six young pandas bred in captivity into an enclosed forest.

Yi finds job in reigning NBA Champion Mavs

Dallas Mavericks, defending NBA champions, signed Chinese star forward Yi Jianlian to a one-year contract last week. Yi will receive an estimated salary of $770,000, which is much less than previous reports that his agents were seeking a $6 million deal. Yi was recalled by the Mavs after he played two impressive games for the team's D-League affiliate, the Texas Legends, where he had 46 points and 24 rebounds combined.

Match-fixing allegation in winter games

Song Weilong of the PLA army team and Jilin team (under the game's peculiar rules) wins the men's 1000m short track finals at China's national winter games, only to spark fury from spectators who questioned whether the other three finalists from the Changchun team made way for Song and never even tried to pass him. According to the rules, a gold medal from a player at the national winter games who represents two teams will be counted as two, one for each of his home teams, at the National Games next year.