Sports thread: Everything sport related here.

[meez]

I believe swimming was poor in 2024 olympics China could have won many more in swimming cuz of the scandel I know too many tests drained the athelete also there were not many multiple winners as individual like us Australia

 

[henrik]

I think China's current transformation into a rich country will see us lose some medals in the "poor" sports like weightlifting, ping pong and gain some medals in the "rich" sports like swimming, snowboarding, etc... We are out of an era where a ton of Chinese people lived in poverty and would, without much objection, give up their children to harsh training regiments in hopes for a gold medal, but more realistically because they think even if the kid can end up a coach in the city, it would be better than being dirt poor in the countryside.

Our weightlifting team used to be people who repeated movements a thousand times a day in unisen, standing in columns and rows like terracotta warriors. Each one of them, undistinguishable from the rest and with no words or emotions to express their one common desire to win. Now, everybody is posting silly clips to Instagram, joking about missed lifts, showing off hobbies like fishing and fancy exotic cars. Athletes used to fully commit themselves and to maximize their chances of winning, dating was out of the question until retired (usually late 20's); now we have Olympic champions in the prime of their careers and the crux of the fight for a second term Olympic gold medal proposing to their girlfriends on stage during live competitions!

Sports like swimming and the winter olympic events that are traditionally dominated by developed nations have become coveted in China. A parent would refuse if a recruitment coach went to them asking if they'd like to put their kids in gymnastics, a sport where 6 year olds with shaved heads cry as they hang until failure on rings with centimeter thick calices, hit with a yardstick if their legs break straight lock; that gold is for them to see on TV, not for their children to suffer for. But if you asked them if their kid would like to be trained in swimming or snowboarding while keeping them on their schoolwork, now, there is interest.

Whether the change is good or bad for our medal count is not terribly important. Sports are for entertainment. Our economy, technology and military are where national power comes from.

China still has way more talent than small countries like Korea or Sweden. There is no excuse for doing worse in any sports, just becasue of getting better off economically.

 

[manqiangrexue]

China still has way more talent than small countries like Korea or Sweden. There is no excuse for doing worse in any sports, just becasue of getting better off economically.

If you look at the overall medal count, the big data will show you that China's not falling behind at all. But if you select specific things where China did not do well in this time and say that's never acceptable because we are big and they are small, then you're just being unrealistic and unreasonable. According to this logic, no small country should ever win a medal because it should belong to the larger country with similar genetics.

 

[broadsword]

Wu Yize won 18-17 against Shaun Murphy for the World Title. Second youngest winner ever.

@Shaolian

 

[HighGround]

Wu Yize won 18-17 against Shaun Murphy for the World Title. Second youngest winner ever.

@Shaolian

Never heard of Snooker before today.



This sport is about to be finished.

 

[Racek49]

Never heard of Snooker before today.

View attachment 174433

This sport is about to be finished.

I also played it sometimes in my youth. When you understand the rules, it is one of the most exciting spectacles and requires huge nerves, a lot of thought and tactics and of course a sure hand. Today, young players are starting to get into it more.
Snooker is played by tens of millions of people in the world and it doesn't matter what age it is. Anyone can play it. And of course, it is a pretty old sport.

 

[Shaolian]

Wu Yize won 18-17 against Shaun Murphy for the World Title. Second youngest winner ever.

@Shaolian

Yesss! Wu Yize the new Snooker World Champion, and 2nd time in a row a Chinese won it. What a nail-biter, going all the way to the final frame in a best-of-35 match. Unlike last year, where Zhao Xintong weren't really tested throughout the tournament as his matches were pretty lopsided in his favour, this time Wu Yize actually has to contend with players who are in equally tip top form. Wu were actually staring at almost certain defeat during the semis against a superb Mark Allen who played a master class safety game to counter Wu's attacking style. In the penultimate frame in another marathon best-of-33 semi-final, Mark Allen was almost a formality away from winning, only needing to pot a very straight forward final black (akin to a 2-or-3 footer golf putt), but missed!

For the final, Wu's opponent, Shaun Murphy actually defeated the defending champion, Zhao Xintong. Zhao was coming into this world championships as favourite, peaking in form perfectly with a couple of recent tournament wins. And the final was closely fought, with both Wu and Murphy trading big breaks of points and frame leads. Everytime one player threatened to widen his lead, he was promtly reeled back. In the end, Wu just edges out in what is a very high quality final. Comparing to Zhao, Wu is a more attacking player, while Zhao is more an all rounder. Zhao is already considered a very accurate long potter, but this Wu is on another level, and the audacity and confidence to try some of those low percentage and long shots in such a high stakes tournament has the commentators praising in amazement.

Anyway, here is the clip of the final 10 minutes of the final frame:

And here at the end of this clip is that miss on the final black by Wu's semi-final opponent, Mark Allen, that allowed Wu to come back and reach the final:

 

[Randomuser]

As I said earlier snooker now has two world champions back to back now. It means its no longer a fluke and China is here to stay.

It's going to be a new sport that China latches on to. After all you can still play it in your 40s instead of being washed up by 20. It also pays better than most Olympic sports since anyone with a bar can play it. Much better ROI.

 

[Maikeru]

As I said earlier snooker now has two world champions back to back now. It means its no longer a fluke and China is here to stay.

It's going to be a new sport that China latches on to. After all you can still play it in your 40s instead of being washed up by 20. It also pays better than most Olympic sports since anyone with a bar can play it. Much better ROI.

Snoker requires an expensive and very heavy slate-bedded playing table, which is much bigger than a pool table. In the UK there are special snooker halls where you can pay to play, but you don't find snooker tables in pubs or private homes generally.
The high point of snooker in the UK was 1980s and 90s, it's declined a bit since then but still quite popular.

 

[broadsword]

Snoker requires an expensive and very heavy slate-bedded playing table, which is much bigger than a pool table. In the UK there are special snooker halls where you can pay to play, but you don't find snooker tables in pubs or private homes generally.
The high point of snooker in the UK was 1980s and 90s, it's declined a bit since then but still quite popular.

I do hope that with more Chinese sponsors, there will be bigger prizes and more tournaments, thus boosting its popularity worldwide. For it to become a Chinese thing while another core group of enthusiasts diminishes is not good for the sport, IMO.