Houston Rockets center Yao Ming, one of the biggest names in contemporary basketball, has announced his retirement from the National Basketball Association, according to several media reports on Friday.
Yao said he and Peng had known each other for nearly 20 years. However, he did not comment directly on the controversy that flared up last year after Peng, a former world No. 1 doubles player, appeared to allege that a former vice premier, Zhang Gaoli, had sexually assaulted her in the past.
The National People's Congress concluded at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Monday March 13, 2023 as a new set of leaders took charge of the Chinese government, and the ones they replaced head to retirement.
Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar will be among the many high-profile guests gracing the premier Laureus World Sports Awards Ceremony, scheduled to be held in Shanghai on April 15.
While many Western countries, including the United States, Britain and Australia, are diplomatically boycotting the Winter Olympics over China's human rights record, Putin will join a number of Beijing-friendly leaders at the Games.
Yao Ming, who ignited China's interest in the NBA and became one of Asia's best-known athletes, announced his retirement from basketball on Wednesday.
China's Olympic gold medal-winning hurdler Liu Xiang announced his retirement on Tuesday.
China's Premier Wen Jiabao has urged the men's national basketball team to "win honor for the motherland" during the Beijing Olympics. Wen turned up at a team practice session on Sunday, shaking hands with coaches and players, including China's favorite sportsman Yao Ming, who plays for the NBA's Houston Rockets.
The United States men's basketball team overpowered Olympic hosts China 101-70 in one of the hottest tickets of the Beijing Games on Sunday.
Euphoric crowds chanting "Go Olympics, Go Beijing" cheered the Olympic flame through Tiananmen Square on Wednesday.
A chest-thumping Yao Ming relentlessly powered Olympic hosts China to their first victory in the men's basketball competition on Thursday.
Dwyane Wade scored 25 points, grabbed eight rebounds and dished out seven assists as the Miami Heat defused the Houston Rockets 88-84.
Houston's Yao collected 2.558 million votes, the most ever, in balloting by fans around the world.
Tracy McGrady recorded 22 points and David Wesley added 21 as the Houston Rockets ended an 11-game losing streak in Sacramento with a 111-96 victory over the Kings Sunday.
Kobe Bryant scored 27 points and dished out 10 assists to lead the Los Angeles Lakers to an 111-104 victory over the Houston Rockets.
Yao Ming netting 27 points as his team beat Serbia and Montenegro 67-66 to knock the world champions out of the tournament.
They went down 117-62 in a Group II quarter-final, in the 22nd Asian Basketball Championship.
Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai said on Sunday that she had never accused anyone of sexually assaulting her, and that a social media post she had made early last month had been misunderstood.
Baseball is one of several sports seeking a slice of the huge Indian market and its similarity with cricket, often called a religion in the country of 1.4 billion, could give it a head start, Major League Baseball (MLB) officials hope. MLB spent a decade and half studying the market before opening a sixth international office in New Delhi last year and was encouraged by the throwing, hitting and catching techniques that link America's pastime and India's obsession.
Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic and Ethiopian sprinter Genzebe Dibaba were named the Laureus Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year respectively in a glittering ceremony.
Indian cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar was inducted as one of the five new members into the prestigious Laureus Sports Academy in a glittering annual award ceremony at the Shanghai Grand theatre in Shanghai.
Sim Bhullar knows it is going to be a tall order but the first NBA player of Indian descent believes that, like Yao Ming in China, he can trigger basketball frenzy.
An increasing number of US lawmakers voiced anger on Monday over the NBA's response to a Houston Rockets official's tweet backing Hong Kong democracy protests, raising US-China tensions as talks to end a 15-month trade war resumed.
Now, with an aim to make basketball the second-most followed sport in India, the NBA launched its customized NBA.com in Mumbai on Wednesday.
Satnam Singh may have endured a tough time with the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA, but he isn't ready to give up just yet.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances