Haixia Zheng encourages others to follow their dreams

Photo of Haixia Zheng- WNBA.com

Athletes with an Asian background have shaped the world of sports in various different ways. Chinese female basketball player Haixia Zheng is one of those people. Born on March 7, 1967 in Tuocheng, Shanqui County, Henan Province, China, no one had expected her to grow to become one of the best Asian female athletes the world has ever seen.


Although Zheng was just an ordinary child, she came to be six feet tall at the age of 12. She also started to play basketball at that time, discovering that she liked the sport and had the skills to compete due to her extraordinary size. She was selected by the Wuhan Army club at the age of 13, and in 1983 (age 16), she was playing for the national team. Zheng grew to be six feet eight inches, and she was playing well in China.

In 1997, she entered the WNBA joining the Los Angeles Sparks. She played all 34 games in the WNBA in her first year, averaging 9.3 ppg and 4.4 rpg. She only played six games the next season and that was the end of her career. While her stats were average, she was facing better athletes in the WNBA compared to China. While playing for the national team in China, Zheng averaged an astounding 26 ppg and 13 rpg with an 83% field-goal percentage. The differences of scoring and rebound production is so great, people can immediately see the big changes.

Zheng didn’t play as well as she did in China due to several reasons. First, she was never quick on her feet, couldn’t jump well, and didn’t have good hands. She wasn’t fluent with English, and that may be a reason of lack of communication with her coaches and teammates. Zheng is a great athlete, it’s just that she wasn’t used to the American style of play. Her role change also affected how she played. In China she was always the go-to player, but here she was only a small part of the team. Through her translator Wendy Chang, Zheng said "The way I played in China was very different from the way they want me to play here," in a Los Angeles Times article by Earl Gustkey. "I was the center of the action, but here I must not only play in the paint. I have to be more mobile.“

Even though she had trouble playing in the WNBA, she managed to win two awards, the 1997 WNBA Sportsmanship Award and the WNBA’s first Bud Light Shooting Champion for being the most accurate shooter in the league, shooting .618 from the field. Zheng always had a high field-goal percentage; maybe this is because of the seven hours of practices. Or it may be her height which allows her to get close to the basket abd take easy shots. This shows that race might not be a factor; it’s actually the work ethic that makes some athlete better than others.

"I need to be much better at understanding team concepts. I hope my coaches and teammates will continue to help me change my habits, to meet the requirements of my new team." Said Zheng in a Los Angeles Times article by Earl Gutskey. She seemed to be a hard-working athlete, which means she did want to help her team win. This shows that sometimes Asian athletes often don’t get the chance to prove that they have the ability to compete and play well.

She came before notable Chinese athletes such as Yao Ming, Yi Jianlian, and now Jeremy Lin. She showed others that it’s possible for an Asian to compete in an American league. She influenced others because she rose over everyone from China and became the first to come to American professional basketball.

To encourage others to pursue their dreams, "Never stop pursuing your dreams. There is not a finish line in your career or the success you can get from it. It's just like studying, if you want to be successful, you should never stop making efforts to learn more." Zheng said in her WNBA profile page.

Ma Long takes number one back

Ma Long / E-Pingpong.pl

The 2011 Mens Singles Table Tennis Pro Tour Finals Champion title was given to 23-year-old Ma Long, again for the third time. His first win was in 2008 in Macau and the next year after that he was the winner again. But unfortunately the streak ended for the athlete. In 2010 his title went to Jun Mizutani another great table tennis player representing Japan. He is currently number one in the world.

Currently Long represents China; he is a back hand dominant player, has a lot of power and plays in the pen hold, a common hold for many Chinese players.

This year the 23-year-old talent had made it to the finals again to win his title back. The match on November 27th in London was one of the most interesting matches. Long was playing against Zheng Jike also representing China. The interesting part was that Zheng Jike is also a back hand dominant player and also uses the pen hold. When you see two players that are so alike play each other it really brings out the skills in each player. And to top everything off this was the finals to determine who would be number one.

Before the game started none of the players were found practicing. Long wasn’t even at the table and Jike was taking a quick nap next to the table. Some might have called it an interesting way to prepare for the game.

When the match started both played extremely well. In the first game Long won easily beating Jike by six points. But Jike fought back and won just barely in the second game. The next two games were an easy finish for Long which beat Jike by seven and eight points.

When the fifth game came both players knew this game was the most crucial of them all. This would determine who would win the match. Both played furiously. It was hard to tell who would win the game as the scores where close to tied. They then made it into deuce and it was then that Long beat Jike by two points making the score 14-12. The match ended and Long was automatically declared as winner since this was a best out of seven. Long had already won four which meant that even if Jike won the next two games the winner would still be Long.

The match was another win for Long and with that he had won back his title of number one back. The records were 11-5, 9-11, 11-3, 11-4, and 14-12. Currently in every singles match they have played Long has always won.

China's team disapoints fans again

The fans cheered their country on as the spirits in the air were high. The match between China and Iraq was highly energetic and the game was the decision maker. China was in second place and Iraq was in third, but if Iraq won this game it would catapult them into second place right behind the top team, Jordan. Only the top two teams were allowed to proceed, so in order to stay in second China had to win this game.

However, China’s fans were disappointed again when their team lost to Iraq at an Asia Qualifier. The fans were enlightened with hope after their team had beat Macau 9-1; however, when the end of the game neared, AFC Asian Cup MVP striker Younis Mahmoud scored a goal for Iraq making the final score 1-0 in favor of Iraq.

China’s hope for the World Cup however, also ended there since this had been a crucial game and the loss had put Iraq in front of China. With only the top two teams moving on, China's hopes to be in the World Cup were gone. Even the 4-0 win against Singapore after losing to Iraq made no difference.

Any dreams depend on Iraq losing their next two games against Jordan and Singapore; however, the chances of Iraq losing to Singapore are fairly small and not many fans are dwelling on it. With China beating Singapore 4-0 the challenge for Iraq to do the same is not great and only with a miracle will Iraq lose letting China go to the round robin.

Previous years were bad for China and not a single year have they played at the World Cup. Their closest reach was in 2004 when they were runner up. In 2002 they received bad press after they had reached the World Cup finals and failed to score a single goal.

This year China’s team had also hired head coach Jose Antonio Camacho in best effort to finally win the World Cup. Some fans are angered by the last minute coach change which might have decreased the chance of the team going to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Former coach Gao Hongbo had one of the highest winning percentage (65%) for a Chinese manager. The replacement of former coach Gao therefore brought much confusion to why he was replaced by current head coach Camacho.

Chinese Soccer Administrative Centre vice-president Yu Hongchen explained, "The qualifying stage of 2014 World Cup is just a temporary task for him. Even if the task is failed, Camacho will not lose the job. When we started to find a new coach for the national team, we mainly focus on European countries such as Germany, the Netherlands and Spain. First of all, they have advanced football concepts, and secondly they have a productive youth training system, which we can learn from. We hope he can help us to find a suitable style."