Digest

TRACK AND FIELD

Sprinter Su has sub-10 in sights for Olympics

Su Bingtian

Chinese sprint star Su Bingtian is confident he can run another sub-10 100 meters at next summer's Tokyo Olympics.

"After gaining experience as I developed, I now have better control over and take better care of my body," said Su, who twice ran 9.91 seconds in June 2018 to equal the Asian 100m record.

Troubled by back and hip injuries last season, Su failed to make the 100m final at the Doha world championships, but did help China secure a berth in the men's 4x100m relay for the Tokyo Games after he secured a ticket in the individual event. He was also appointed to World Athletics' Athletes Commission last November.

He admits training hurts more than it used to, with post-workout physical therapy sessions now an essential part of his routine.

Su will be 31 when the postponed Tokyo Games take place, but the veteran is optimistic about his chances at his third Olympics.

"Should I be able to run as I do in training, running another sub-10 won't be a problem," he said.

WINTER SPORTS

Hebei industry drive eyes $17 billion target

Hebei province is aiming to raise the value of its winter sports industry to 120 billion yuan (about $17 billion) by 2022.

According to a new plan launched by Hebei authorities on Wednesday, the province's government will develop the city of Zhangjiakou, which will host many snow events at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, into a world-class city for ice and snow sports and winter tourism. According to the project's estimates, the scale of the winter sports industry in Zhangjiakou alone could reach 60 billion yuan (about $8.44 billion) by 2022.

Hebei plans to promote the construction of winter sports venues and will support the building of public skating rinks (all to be 1,830 square meters in size) in the province's cities.

Winter sports will also be promoted in Hebei's schools, while newly formed winter sports teams in various cities will be provided with funding of between 300,000 yuan and 500,000 yuan ($42,000-$70,000).

BASKETBALL

Marbury accepts streetball challenge

Stephon Marbury

Stephon Marbury has accepted a one-on-one challenge from Chinese streetball star Huang Yujun.

Huang threw down the gauntlet to Beijing Royal Fighters head coach Marbury, formerly a star player with the Beijing Ducks, during a livestream discussion of the topic "Who is the best foreign player in the history of the CBA?"

"I don't think Stephon Marbury is the best one, I want to play one-on-one with him," said Huang."I know he played in the NBA, but he is 43 now. I think I have a chance, it will be a 50-50 game.

"I hope he can respond to me as soon as possible."

Huang's wish was quickly granted, with Marbury responding that evening with a video message on social media:"Jun ge, ni hao (brother Jun, hello), what's up my brother? I'm happy that you challenged me. I know that you're one of the players that came from the bottom and rose to the top.

"I'm excited to meet you, I'm excited to play one-on-one against you, I accept your challenge and you're always welcome to come to my hometown here in Beijing. Peace and love, see you soon."

CBA set to return in Qingdao, Dongguan

Jeremy Lin

The Chinese Basketball Association announced on Thursday that its domestic league will resume on June 20 after a near five-month hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 20 teams will be divided into two groups based on their current standings to play at two separate tournaments behind closed doors in Qingdao, Shandong province, and Dongguan, Guangdong province, according to a CBA statement.

Most of the CBA teams have 16 games left to play in the 2019-20 regular season, which has been suspended since Jan 24.

The league has not released a detailed competition format or rules regarding the use of foreign players for the remainder of the campaign. On Wednesday, Beijing Ducks star Jeremy Lin claimed players did not care what system was used, saying: "We just want to play and let fans see the games on TV or the internet."

SOCCER

Tottenham confirms positive COVID-19 case

One member of Tottenham Hotspur's squad has tested positive for COVID-19, the Premier League club confirmed on Wednesday.

The Premier League announced the results of the fifth round of testing on Wednesday, confirming just one out of the 1,197 players and club staff that were tested on Monday and Tuesday returned positive.

A Spurs statement read:"We have been informed by the Premier League that we have received one positive test for COVID-19 following the latest round of testing at our training center. Due to medical confidentiality, the individual's name will not be disclosed."

The London side revealed that the individual is asymptomatic and will "self-isolate for seven days, in line with Premier League protocol, before undergoing further testing".

In the previous rounds of testing, there were a total of 12 positive cases out of 3,882 tests.

The EPL, which was suspended in March as the virus outbreak gripped Britain, has set a June 17 return date.

Maradona extends deal as Gimnasia boss

Diego Maradona

Argentinian legend Diego Maradona has extended his contract as head coach of Gimnasia y Esgrima, the club said on Wednesday.

The 59-yearold, whose previous deal had been due to expire this month, will remain at the club until June 2021, according to a brief statement published on social media.

Maradona was appointed Gimnasia boss last September when it was mired at the foot of the Argentine Superliga standings with just one draw and four losses.

The club improved under the 1986 World Cup winner, jumping five places in the 24-team Superliga standings to finish the season with six wins, six draws and 12 losses.

The Argentinian Football Association canceled the remainder of the 2020-21 season in April, six weeks after suspending competitions because of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Team sidelined by 25 coronavirus cases

A Ukrainian team has found 25 cases of the novel coronavirus among players and staff.

The Ukrainian soccer association said on Tuesday the positive results at Karpaty Lviv came from 65 tests. None of the players or staff members have been named.

The Ukrainian league restarted last week without Karpaty. The team's first game was called off a day earlier because of suspected virus cases and the league has since postponed two more of its matches.

Karpaty said that it still plans to finish its schedule of games as planned. For that to happen by the league's planned end date of July 19, Karpaty and its opponents would face a packed run of rescheduled games.

Karpaty said everyone who tested positive is in isolation and that training has been canceled ahead of a two-week quarantine period.

China Daily - Xinhua