China’s women’s basketball team was beaten by the United States in the final of the FIBA World Cup in Sydney. The silver medals that the Chinese were left with still represented their country’s best finish in the global showpiece in 28 years. Not since 1994 – in a tournament (锦标赛) held, like this one, in Australia – had they won a medal of any colour.

At the World Cup, China played a total of eight matches, winning six of them. They entered the final of a major international competition for the first time in almost three decades, before losing to defending champions the United States to finish runners-up for the second time in history.

China’s performance at the tournament received much attention from Chinese people both at home and abroad, especially as the final fell on the country’s National Day. Chinese flags were waved and the national anthem (国歌) was sung in the stadium, giving people a feeling that the team was playing on their home court.

Although losing the game, the team was met with praise and encouragement from Chinese netizens as people have walked away from a “medal-oriented” mentality, and started to accept more the spirit of sportsmanship and “perform your best” spirit. Many Chinese netizens said they were proud of the players for trying their best and fighting until the last minutes which showed the true sportsmanship. The mental strength and quality of the Chinese women’s basketball team are even more valuable than being the runner-up in the World Cup, they said. The Chinese women’s basketball team is already the champion in our hearts, commented an internet user.

“We should admit the gap in the strength between the two teams. However, the women basketball players have presented an exciting game, playing good defense and never hesitating to attack. I am so proud of them, and it is special our National Day.” said one Weibo user.

【推荐3】Two roller skaters were crouched(蹲伏) low, knees bent and bodies pressed together, fighting to stay glued to prevent a third skater slip through and break their wall. This was a roller derby(轮滑阻拦赛) practice for the Tiny Terrors, a team of skaters aged 8-11 in the Gotham Girls Junior League of New York City. “They want to fight and get really fast, and they find so much confidence,” said Kristen Campbell, director of the junior derby program.

Roller derby is played with two teams of five skaters on a track. One player on each team serves as the jammer whose job is to race around the track and score points without getting blocked by the other team. The match is made up of two 30-minute periods that each consists of shorter plays or jams. Each jam lasts two minutes or until the lead jammer calls it off, usually a move made to stop the other jammer from catching up and scoring points.

You have probably heard of adults playing roller derby, but a growing number of young people are attracted by the fast-paced sport. Campbell owes the increase in interest partly to a popular novel called “Roller Girl.”

Campbell described the junior league as a shelter for girls who aren’t sure where they fit in at school. “I’ve had so many parents tell me their child was having trouble with anxiety or bullying(欺负) or that they didn’t fit into any sport or art club or whatever it is,” she said. “And then they find roller derby and everything is solved.”

Many of the girls said they got much more out of the sport than just exercise. As Campbell tells it, those extra lessons are really the point. Strength, confidence and body positivity have long been values of roller derby, even if it’s subliminal rather than open and direct.

Of course, like any contact sport, injuries are unavoidable.

“They don’t go for big hits,” Campbell said. “Now we focus more on hip blocking and using lateral(横向的) movement to block—leaning each other out with light contact.” Besides, the girls don’t mind the occasional bump. “It’s sort of like a medal,” Campbell said, smiling.

【推荐1】A few days ago, the Brooklyn Nets basketball player Ben Simmons donated a basketball court to Machang township in Southwest China’s Guizhou Province during a ceremony. Simmons has visited China several times since he was young. He has been deeply touched by the Chinese people’s warmth and friendly feelings toward him and their enthusiasm for the basketball.

Impressed by the news that basketball competitions had been held in Guizhou at a village with their own “Village Basketball Association(VBA)”, Simmons decided to donate a basketball court to the village during the Chinese New Year Basketball Competition in January. After conducting a survey, he set up the basketball court in Machang township in Gui’an New Area in the hope that it would create more opportunities for young fans to play basketball.

In the mountainous village of Machang, there are no huge electronic screens or advertisements at basketball games, but they can still be thrilling thanks to local players’ love for the sport. These players later became a hit in China and even went global. A recent final competition attracted 30,000 viewers on site and more than 1 billion viewers online.

Comparatively, the NBA boasts the best players in the world, top-class basketball gyms and professionally made commercials, so its exciting games draw fans around the world. NBA and the “VBA”are thousands of miles apart, but their games are equally striking, fueling thousands of fans’ enthusiasm. Both focus on a common interest of basketball fans in the U. S. and China and their shared pursuit of sports and a better life.

Although Machang township lacks modern sports facilities, the local people’s love for basketball remains strong. So Simmons’ donation will surely help improve the village’s situation to a certain extent, but more importantly, it will bring people separated by the Pacfe Ocean closer through this sport.

【推荐2】As the song “Bridge Over Troubled Water” echoed across the ice rink at the Beijing 2022, Chinese skaters Sui Wenjing and Han Cong completed their touching but powerful performance on Long Program, which successfully earned them their first-ever Olympic championship title and China’s second gold in the pair skating event at the Olympic Games. (The first was from Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo at 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.) Also, it was a perfect conclusion to their 15 years of cooperation.

Sui and Han, born in 1995 and 1992 respectively, had won almost every youth competition they took part in when they were young, yet constant injuries and accidents created a massive barrier to overcome when it came to reaching the Olympic podium(领奖台).

In 2014, an ankle injury caused Sui constant pain, forcing the pair lose their qualification for the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics. That should have been their first opportunity for Olympic gold. “It was a huge regret for us after preparing so much,” recalled Sui.

In 20l6, Sui finally underwent foot ligament(韧带) surgery, after which she went through a long recovery period. The doubt about whether she would ever skate again almost left her in despair. For Han, the training arena and the hospital were the only two places that Han would go.

After four years of waiting, the pair had the chance to compete at Pyeongchang 2018. Their performance there won them a silver medal.

Another four years later in Beijing, the then two-time world champions finished their entire routine with a total of 155.47 points, surpassing Team China’s top competitor, ROC’S Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov, who won silver.

Talking about her future career direction, Sui said she is applying to be a choreography major, as she believes figure skating is a combination of this art form and skating techniques. “I have too many creative ideas for figure skating. It requires continuous learning and of course an endless passion for skating as well as perseveration, which is the key to success.”