Football: Lippi’s China gears up for China Cup
China's football team train for the 2017 China Cup in Nanning, China, on January 9, 2017. /CFP Photo
China's football team train for the 2017 China Cup in Nanning, China, on January 9, 2017. /CFP Photo
China’s football team is putting the finishing touches to its preparations for the China Cup, which kicks off on Tuesday evening in the southern city of Nanning. Marcello Lippi’s men will take on Iceland, fresh from the country's inspiring Euro 2016 run, in the opening game of the inaugural tournament. Chile then play Croatia on Wednesday, with the winners facing off in the championship final on Sunday. Lippi is taking a young and mostly new team to Tuesday’s game, his second since he took charge in November. The Italian has named SIPG midfielder Cai Huikang as captain. Lippi said his goal during the tournament is to find new players for the national team ahead of the next World Cup 2018 qualifier.
Tennis: 1st WTA title for Czech Siniakova in Shenzhen
Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic in action against Alison Riske of the United States during the final of the 2017 WTA Shenzhen Open in Shenzhen, China on January 7, 2017. /CFP Photo
Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic in action against Alison Riske of the United States during the final of the 2017 WTA Shenzhen Open in Shenzhen, China on January 7, 2017. /CFP Photo
Czech tennis player Katerina Siniakova won her first WTA title at the Shenzhen Open on Saturday, beating American Alison Riske 6-3, 6-4. The 20-year-old, ranked 52 in the world, had already bested top 10 players like Simona Halep and Johanna Konta on her way to the trophy. In the doubles, another Czech player emerged victorious: Andrea Hlavackova, in a new partnership with China’s Peng Shuai. The pair beat Raluca Olaru and Olga Savchuk 6-1, 7-5, making it a 21st doubles trophy for Peng.
Ski jumping: Stoch wins Four Hills
Overall Winner Kamil Stoch of Poland poses with his trophy at the Four Hills Tournament in Bischofshofen, Austria on January 6, 2017. /CFP Photo
Overall Winner Kamil Stoch of Poland poses with his trophy at the Four Hills Tournament in Bischofshofen, Austria on January 6, 2017. /CFP Photo
Olympic and world champion Kamil Stoch won the prestigious Four Hills ski jumping tournament on Friday in Bischofshofen, Austria, finally adding this title to his already packed trophy cabinet. The 29-year-old Pole, who won double gold in Sochi in 2014, topped the podium in the final event of the competition to beat compatriot Piotr Zyla and Norway’s Daniel Andre Tande in the overall standings. It was his first Four Hills title. The tournament is held every year in the same four venues: Oberstdorf and Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Germany, and Innsbruck and Bischofshofen in Austria.
Alpine skiing: Snow queen Tina Maze retires
Tina Maze of Slovenia waves during the women's giant slalom in Maribor, Slovenia on January 7, 2017. /CFP Photo
Tina Maze of Slovenia waves during the women's giant slalom in Maribor, Slovenia on January 7, 2017. /CFP Photo
Slovenian ski queen Tina Maze officially retired from the sport on Sunday with an emotional last race on home soil during the women’s giant slalom in Maribor. A true all-rounder, who managed to top the podium in every discipline from slalom to downhill, Maze tallied 26 World Cup wins and 81 podiums over the past 18 years. A two-time Olympic champion and four-time world champion, she won the overall World Cup trophy as well as the crystal globes in the giant slalom and super-G in 2013. Tributes from her fiercest rivals, including Lindsey Vonn, Anna Veith and Lara Gut, poured in after the race.
Basketball: CBA’s top players turn out for All-Star Game
Ding Yanyuhang in action during the CBA's All-Star Game in Beijing on January 8, 2017. /CFP Photo
Ding Yanyuhang in action during the CBA's All-Star Game in Beijing on January 8, 2017. /CFP Photo
The Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) held its annual All-Star Game at the LeSports Center on Sunday night in front of 18,000 fans. The evening, a mixture of exhibition and pure entertainment, featuring a Slam Dunk Contest and Three-Point Shootout, brought out the CBA’s biggest stars, from the Beijing Ducks’ Stephon Marbury and the Shanghai Sharks’ Jimmer Fredette, the league's current leading scorer, to Chinese internationals Guo Ailun and Ding Yanyuhang. The players were divided into the league's traditional North and South teams with the North eventually taking the win, 149-147.