This is part of our China's 2015 Year in Review series. For more on 2015 Sports in review, read our interview with Shanghai SIPG Top Scorer Wu Lei here and the 5 top feel-good stories of sports here.
In one sense, 2015 was hardly a vintage year for sports in Shanghai. The city’s pro teams suffered mixed fortunes in both football and basketball. But on the international stage, 2015 was perhaps China’s most significant year since the 2008 Olympics. The Bird’s Nest was brought to life once more for the World Athletics Championships; while Beijing and Zhangjiakou’s successful Winter Olympics 2022 bid means that China can create another spectacle for the watching world (as well as another incentive to combat the capital’s polluted skies that everyone from top tennis players to amateur marathon runners had something to say about in 2015).
All sports have winner and losers. Normally there are far more losers, but here’s three of each.
Winner: China’s women’s volleyball team
World Cups in any sport are worth celebrating. Ones that arise from beating Japan in the final, even more so. Led by the wonderfully nicknamed spiker, ‘Iron Hammer’ Lang Ping, China’s women’s volleyball team secured the title and booked their place at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Loser: Shanghai Sharks
Yao Ming remains the King of Chinese basketball with his presence required at all NBA and NCAA games held in China. However, as owner of his hometown Shanghai Sharks, he’s floundering. The team lost National Team point guard and Yao’s childhood bestie Liu Wei to Xinjiang, en route to another season out of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) playoffs.
Winner: Guo Chuan
China might not have much of a reputation in the sailing world, but this plucky skipper sailed his way into history by crossing the Arctic Ocean in record time. Leading an international crew, Guo took just 13 days to cover the 6,000km voyage in a trimaran named ‘Qingdao China.’
Loser: Ding Junhui
Having started 2015 as world number 1, China’s most successful snooker player looked set to finish the year ranked ninth. Ding’s ranking wasn’t helped by his failure to progress from the first round of three successive tournaments and his loss to Gary Wilson – ranked just 56th – at his home tournament, the China Open.
Winner: Emmanuel Mudiay
The 18-year-old became the first high-profile American basketball player to spur the NCAA to play professionally in China. He reportedly earned over USD1 million as he led the Guangdong Southern Tigers to the CBA finals last season. He’s since been drafted by the Denver Nuggets, where he has started all of his NBA games and is in contention for the Rookie of the Year prize.
Loser: Liu Xiang
The former hurdling star called time on his marriage just three months after retiring from athletics. Citing a personality mismatch, Liu’s relationship with actress Ge Tian lasted less than a year after the wedding. Ge also loses points for questionable performances in anti-Japanese drama Together We Fight the Devils.
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