While basketball fans in China have delighted in seeing their favourite sport back in action after the Covid close down, followers of Nanjing suffered an embarrassing tinge of disappointment in seeing their beloved team lose to Zhejiang.
Saturday, 20 June, saw the first match of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) league restart take place in the Qingdao Sports Centre, between the Zhejiang Lions and the Nanjing Monkey Kings.
A 1-minute silence in memory of victims to Covid was observed by players and match officials prior to this first game, with all heads bowed before a video screen and posters of some of the game’s star players and medical workers. CBA Chairman, the infamous Yao Ming, was also in attendance.
To a degree, the game was closer than the 112-95 score would suggest. Zhejiang took an early 34-25 lead in the first quarter, but Nanjing were able to close the gap to just one point in the second. The recovery was short-lived, however, as Zhejiang powered away to a 20 point lead after a three-pointer by Zhao Yanhao.
“The main reason for our loss is the rebounds, and we will improve it in the following games,” said Nanjing coach, Cui Wanjun, reported Xinhua.
With the stadium’s spectator seating empty, approximately one million fans watched the Nanjing-Zhejiang game live online, with an additional million tuning in during the four games that followed.
The restarted CBA league is being played in just two venues to cut down on travel for the teams, as part of continued epidemic prevention and control efforts. The other half of the league is being played in the city of Dongguan and Guangdong Province.
Wang Fei, head coach for Shanxi Loongs, said, “With the Covid-19 pandemic bringing Chinese basketball to a long standstill, we have experienced an unprecedented off-season of more than 3 months”, reported SportsBusiness.com. “In fact, the team resumed training about 2 months ago. We’ve been waiting for the restart and now, finally, it’s here.”
“The most important thing is we can play again,” Beijing Ducks’ American guard, Jeremy Lin, told China Daily. “I’m grateful for the CBA’s efforts to give us a chance to play again.”
The CBA is the first of China’s major domestic sporting leagues to restart after its coronavirus-induced, 151-day shutdown.
