KEVIN De Bruyne has admitted he might have to rethink his future at Manchester City if they fail in their appeal against a two-year ban from the Champions League.

“The club have told us they will appeal against the ban on European football and that they’re almost 100 per cent sure they are right,” De Bruyne     1     (tell) Belgian paper Het Laatste Nieuws.

“I’m just waiting. I trust my team. Once the decision     2     (make), I will review everything. Two years would be long, in the case of one year I might see. It remains a challenge to be the best and I need that, too.     3     is coming is coming.”

Though City would be petrified of     4     (lose) De Bruyne due to a lack of European football, he did have better news for the club.

The Belgian,     5     leads the Premier League’s assists table this season and is a contender for PFA Player of the Year, says his future is not linked to that of manager Pep Guardiola.

Guardiola is expected to leave when his current City deal     6     (end) next year but De Bruyne does not see that as a reason to move on himself.

“I’m not going to let my decision depend on what Pep is doing,’ he added. ‘Of course I have already worked with other trainers and when Pep leaves, I have to continue     7     (work) with someone else. But I haven’t really paid much attention to that for the time being. There are more important things at the moment.”

    8     (recognize) for his passing, dribbling, tackling and shooting ability, De Bruyne’s playing style has frequently led to the media, coaches, and colleagues ranking him among the best players in the world, and he has often been described as a “complete” footballer. He is now the “best” of Man city which makes the football club rely on one single De Bruyne. This is obvious     9     Man City lost the two Premier League matches which De Bruyne didn’t participate in, scoring none, and it     10     (be) De Bruyne himself contributing a whole lot to save Man City from being slashed by Real Madrid.

Beneath an orange tent along East 32nd Street Saturday morning, warmly dressed locals     1     (deliver) pies, filled with everything from nuts to apples and cheese, to be judged in the first-ever Great Waverly Pie Contest. After thorough evaluations based on taste,     2     (present) , and number of ingredients (原料) , a sweet pie by Matt Maxion and a savory (香草的) pie by Garrick Houston took top     3     (honor) .

“My mother’s family is from the Louisiana-Texas border, so I grew up eating jambalaya (什锦饭) ,” explained Houston. Drawing inspiration from his mother’s jambalaya recipe, Garrick Houston made his pie that contained ingredients like sausage, olive oil, and bell peppers     4     (source) from local farmers’ markets. “I    5     (live) in Maryland for four years when I was young. So I wanted to combine my past,     6     is my filling, with my present home,” Houston said.

    7     (similar), Maxion, who moved to Baltimore from California about a year ago, got inspiration for his prize-winning creation—with ingredients including the Southeast Asian plant pandan—from his Filipino hometown. With     8     help from local farmers and VMart Pilipino Store in Nottingham, he credited his successful pie     9     lots of planning and a willingness to lean into the process.

The organizer Martha Lucius was excited     10     (see) the new neighborhood competition come to life, saying, “It’s been great to see all of the excitement.”

The 2023 Chinese Bridge Calligraphy and Painting Contest lasted for six months,     1     (attract) 1, 084 contestants from 86 countries     2     a total of 1, 146 calligraphy and painting works.

According to experts, the award winning calligraphy works this year mirrored many Chinese classic elements with more     3     (expressive) and creativity, compared to the winners of last year's contest,

“I feel honored to be the judge again and also     4     (delight) to find that the entries for this year have been such a breakthrough. From their progress, you can     5     (definite) see the authors must have spent a lot of time and energy learning traditional Chinese culture, ” commented one of the judges.

At the closing ceremony, Zhang Bo, professor from Beijing Language and Culture University, gave high praise of the achievement of overseas Chinese teaching,     6     played a significant role in cultural exchanges. He said the quality of the entries resulted from the contestants' years of study, as well as     7     guidance and assistance of overseas Chinese teaching behind them.

The experts suggested watching the videos about the contestants on the website. “Through these videos, we can see their daily practice and creation process,     8     we can also feel their understanding and love for Chinese culture from their introductions. The creative process of calligraphy and painting     9     (have) a visual appreciation similar to dance. It is our hope that these videos     10     (share) on social media will encourage more people to develop a love for Chinese culture.”

As a game of     1     (wise), Go is a legacy of traditional Chinese arts, considered one of the most important qualities of ancient Chinese literati (文人学士).

Appearing over 4,000 years ago in ancient China, Go was first introduced into Japan during the Sui and Tang Dynasties and into Europe in the 19th century. To date, it     2     (spread) to more than 40 countries.

The traditional game of Go also boasts a number of legends about its origin. It’s said that Emperor Yao became very disheartened when his son behaved     3     (bad). So Yao made the game of Go     4     (cultivate) him morally and intellectually.

It is     5    exciting and intense game and the situation on the board keeps changing and unpredictable. Players have to turn to all sorts of tactics in order to defeat their opponents.

Wu Qingyuan, a Chinese Go legend,     6     (regard) as the greatest Go player ever, once said, “Although Go is a     7     (compete) game, winning should never be seen as the final goal. It will teach you to think through things     8     to remain calm in the face of defeat”.

Go can take     9     other meanings to its players: a mirror of one’s personality, a mental “workout” and a beautiful art in     10     black and white pieces dance in balance across the board. Therefore, Go has become more and more popular among young people.

Asia’s first Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) world champion Weili Zhang knocked out Poland’s Joann a Jedrzejczyk to win the chance     1     (challenge) for the women’s strawweight title at UFC275 on June 12, 2022 in Singapore.

The fight     2     (set) off wild celebrations on Chinese social media so far. The 32-year-old is seen as a genuine star. She became China’s first UFC champion in 2019. “Together we put girl power on display in the Octagon (八角笼). We’ve proved to people     3     said we cannot do certain things that we can.” Zhang said after the fight when     4     (interview) on stage.

Zhang’s fighting dream began young. Her childhood hero, Bruce Lee,     5     (inspire) her to take up kung fu when she was 6. Later, she learned sanda. But at 17, her sanda fighting career ended because of     6     (injury). Over the next six years, she tried different jobs, like a kindergarten teacher, a saleswoman     7     a bodyguard.

However, she still dreamed of being     8     fighter. In 2013, she started learning MMA. Many people think that the sport isn’t     9     (suit) for the “weaker bodies” of women. But Zhang     10     (strong) disagrees. “Anything men can do, women can do, too—and we can do it just as well as them.” Obviously, she has proved it’s true!

The Ontario Convention Center was filled with     1     (excite)on Saturday as hundreds of players competed in the 2023 US Open Table Tennis Championships. The tournament attracted players from around the world, among     2     were Wu Bohan and Zhang Yuwen. Representing Peking University,     3     Chinese pair will participate in a series of events to celebrate the 52nd anniversary of Ping-Pong Diplomacy.

When Dell Sweeris, now a 78-year-old, watched the intense action at the championship, fond memories     4     (come) flooding back. With a smile playing on his lips (嘴角), he reflected on how a simple game of ping-pong had once bridged political chasms (鸿沟)    5     brought nations closer together.

“I was so fortunate     6     (be) on the US national team in 1972 when the Chinese team came here,” Sweeris recalled. “They sent legends (传奇人物) here and I luckily traveled with them.”

While     7     (meet) some legendary players of the Ping-Pong Diplomacy era, Sweeris became friends with Liu Wei, a former world champion and now a professor at Peking University.

    8     the coach of the Peking University table tennis team, Liu said his team was on a mission to spread the spirit of Ping-Pong Diplomacy. “It is about the continuity of friendship,”she said. “It will     9    (pass) on to the next generation through the medium of table tennis. One of the driving forces behind this continuity is the     10     (share) love for this sport by the people of both China and the United States.”

The Asian Games is the largest sporting event in Asia. Its predecessor (前身) was the Far Eastern Games. In 1948, Guru Dutt Sondhi, leader of Indian sports, felt the Far Eastern Games were not good enough     1     (reflect) the level of Asian sports and the unity spirit of Asian people, and suggested     2     (establish) the Asian Games so that all Asian countries could participate.

The 19th Asian Games was held in Hangzhou from September 23 to October 8, 2023,     3     12,417 athletes from all 45 Asian countries and regions participating. Several rising sports     4     are popular among young people made their first     5     (appear) at this year’s Games, such as break dance and e-sports. After a 13-year absence     6     it first appeared at the Guangzhou Games in 2010, Weiqi,     7     mind sport, returned to the Hangzhou Games. Certain     8     (region) sports in Asia, especially dragon boat racing, though not     9     (recognize) as Olympic sports,     10     (be) medal-awarded events at this Asian Games.

The Cun BA basketball tournament, one of China’s popular grassroots sports competitions, plans more interactions with NBA professionals in the current season. “We plan to take the championship team to     1     exchange program with the NBA, allowing them     2     (experience), learn from and interact with professional NBA players,” Cen Jianglong, head of Taipan and co-organizer of the tournament, said on Friday.

The basketball games, originally held to mark a local festival,     3     (go) viral in 2022, garnering online views of more than 1.5 billion that year. In 2023, the event received over 55 billion views,     4     (far) consolidating its status as a cultural and sporting phenomenon.

In its     5     (three) year, Cun BA remains both a basketball competition and a carnival. On opening day, singers performed,     6     the aim of conveying cultural confidence to the audience and improving awareness of preserving traditional culture, according to the organizers,     7     hope that such activities will attract even more     8     (spectator) to the games.

The Cun BA phenomenon has not only energized the local economy, but has also contributed to the overall development of Taipan village and the surrounding regions. Sports events,     9     (combine) with entertainment activities at the grassroots level,     10     (drive) local cultural and tourism development in a number of regions across the country.

The Organizing Committee for the 9th Asian Winter Games     1     (official) showed the emblem, mascots (吉祥物) and slogan on Thursday for the regional games     2     (schedule) for February 2025 in Harbin, Heilongjiang province.

The mascots of the 9th Asian Winter Games—Siberian tigers “Binbin” and “Nini”—made their public debut (首次亮相) amid cheers at an unveiling ceremony in Harbin. They were created by a team from the Academy of Fine Arts at Tsinghua University, and symbolize the in-depth     3     (explore) and shape of the unique natural and cultural heritage of the Northeast—the Siberian tiger culture. “The archetypes (原型) of Binbin and Nini are two cute little Siberian tigers born in September 2023 at the Siberian Tiger Park in Harbin,” Zhang Qixiang, mayor of Harbin, said at the ceremony. “Their names mean ‘Welcome to Harbin’, and show Harbin’s eager anticipation and sincere welcome to friends from Asian countries.” Binbin represents the ice events as he shows off his winter sportswear and shares his joy of ice dancing,    4     Nini represents the snow events,    5     (wear) traditional Chinese clothes.

In traditional Chinese culture, the tiger is a symbol of good luck and is endowed (赋予) with many positive characteristics, among     6     integrity, strength and courage are highly     7     (consistency) with the Olympic spirit.

The emblem of the 9th Asian Winter Games in 2025—“Breakthrough” —was also created by the team from the Academy of Fine Arts at Tsinghua University, and expresses the beautiful pursuit of accelerating the construction of China’s sports power in the new era, making constant efforts to challenge the goal of higher, faster and stronger, and making new contributions to Asian ice and snow sports.

The slogan of the 9th Asian Winter Games—“Dream of Winter. Love among Asia” —highlights the concept of connecting Asian countries     8     ice and snow, creating new growth     9     (pole) of ice and snow economy, and promoting cultural exchanges between Asian countries, according to the committee.

It also highlights the practice of the vision of “a community with a shared future for mankind”, and the Asian Winter Games should     10     (use) as a link to promote cooperation and common development among Asian countries.

Last year, Chinese from far-off cities flocked to Rongjiang County to watch an amateur village football super league, the VSL, or, CunChao. There was an audience of 50,000 once     1     (attract) to just one game, with millions more watching on Weibo and Douyin.

Football in Rongjiang County has a time-honored history,     2     (date) back to the 1940s. Back then, villagers made appointments to“play football together,”which could happen on any surface — whether it was on a grassland     3     on a concrete courtyard. At present, Rongjiang County has 14 standard football fields, all of     4     open for free. Every village has     5     (it) own team or even teams, with over 1000 players registered in the county. Let’s “play football together,”— a line villagers have     6     (repeat) said for over eight decades, has taken on an evolving implication with time.

The league’s cultural     7     (diverse) is another draw. During breaks in the matches, performances like the grand song of the Dong ethnic group, and the Lusheng dance of the Miao ethnic group were on show just on the pitch with their traditional ethnic costumes     8    .

People’s hopes for the     9     (harmony) countryside as well as the vigor of rural life     10    (bring) out to the fullest on this CunChao game.