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Jonathan White

Is it fair to say that Chinese sport is stagnating? It sure feels that way.
This week saw the release of the nominations for the Laureus World Sports Awards and there were two Asians among the 30 athlete and team nominees.
Elsewhere on a list dominated by Europe and the US, there are only two Africans – Kenyan runners Joshua Cheptegei and Brigid Kosgei – with the Argentina men’s rugby team the sole South American representation.
Both of Asia’s nominees, Naomi Osaka and Kento Momota, are Japanese.

Osaka – the highest-earning female athlete in the world and the new Australian Open champion – is up for Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year while Momota, who recovered from a career-threatening car crash in which his driver was killed, is up for Comeback of the Year.
Not that you would wish for anyone to be eligible for the comeback of the year, given what they have to come back from, but still the fact is that once more there are no Chinese athletes or teams.
Osaka at top of game – but more to come on and off court
Maybe that will change in 12 months time. This is an Olympic year after all and Tokyo 2020 is likely to see the Chinese medal factory push out a creditable amount of gold, silver and bronze. That though is an anomaly to the wider story.
Take Osaka – who won the Laureus Breakthrough of the Year in 2019 and was nominated for sportswoman last year – as an example.
The four-time slam winner was inspired by Asia’s first slam winner, China’s Li Na, and has surpassed her doubling Hall of Famer Li’s two slams.

Where are the Chinese players that Li inspired?
China sent five players to Melbourne for the women’s singles, more than any other Asian nation, including 30th seed Wang Qiang and 31st seed Zhang Shuai. Unseeded Zhu Lin got the furthest, reaching the second round where she lost to Elise Mertens.
By contrast, Taiwan’s Hsieh reached the quarter-final where she lost to Osaka, who went on to lift her second Australian Open crown.
Slam or superstar – what’s next for Chinese tennis?
Pick any sport and China is punching well below its considerable weight.
Football is the sport where China wants to catch up more than any other and the top down push for success was announced with much fanfare.
Chinese football was meant to have improved by now but targets for the five-year plan were missed. You could argue that the national team has improved but if it has it because of the controversial naturalisation policy.

That was in the news again this week as Alex Teixeira is said to be considering playing for China weeks after the Brazilian striker’s proposed switch seemed off.
China could line up with half of its squad made up of naturalised footballers, most of whom qualified on residency not nationality.
That is entirely within the rules and has been used by other countries to great effect but lots of Chinese sports fans and some among governing bodies are against the policy, often suggesting it is a source of national shame.
Despite everything, ‘Chinese dream’ of next Yao Ming lives on in the West
China’s only national team member playing overseas cannot get in the team at Spanish second tier side Espanyol, though he is putting a brave face on it.
“I am delighted to see our team won consecutive games, even though I regrettably had to watch from the sidelines,” Wu told Xinhua this week. “The head coach is justified to maintain a consistent line-up to achieve consecutive wins. The longer the stability lasts, the more effective it is.”
Even when there appears hope for Chinese sports stars, the threat of despair is not far behind.

Zhou Guanyu has edged toward becoming the first Chinese F1 driver but even that potential milestone comes with a caveat. That is not the critics who are a millstone that Zhou will have to carry but the bigger worry is that he will not lead an influx of Chinese talent.
That is what his Alpine Academy boss Mia Sharizman intimated earlier this month.
“It was a once in a generational project,” Sharizman said at their season launch. “We will never see another Chinese driver [with Zhou’s prospects] for the next 15-20 years, whether in Formula 3 or Formula 4 or Formula 2.”
China’s F1 dream a step closer as Zhou wins F3 Asia title
Ouch. But why would F1 be any different than tennis, where no one has followed Li Na, or basketball, where there has been no heir to Yao Ming in the NBA?
Not to say that the major sports leagues are not still hoping for a Chinese star, just maybe they are no longer banking on it.
The mainland remains a market of great commercial interest and there are deals signed every week looking to exploit that – TikTok recently became Euro 2020’s fourth Chinese sponsor.
Everything you need to know about Beijing 2022 one year out
China is a thriving off the pitch as both sponsor and host of the biggest events, such as next year’s Winter Olympics, but it’s struggling on the pitch.
That’s why the biggest worry for the hosts at Beijing 2022 might not be a boycott or protests but the medal table.


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Australian Open 2021

No new Yao Ming or Li Na sees Beijing 2022 host China still punching below its weight in sport

China’s Olympic team will be in action at Tokyo 2020 and Beijing 2022 in the next 12 months but sporting success appears to be stagnating. Photo: EPA

=== PHOTO CAPTURED ONLINE=== China's Zhou Guanyu celebrates his first Formula Two victory at Sochi. Photo: Instagram/Zhou Guanyu

Houston Rockets' Yao Ming of China reacts during an NBA game in Los Angeles in this February 14, 2006 file photograph. China's NBA all-star Yao Ming has sued a Chinese sportswear maker over alleged name and image infringements, local media reported on May 13, 2011. The towering Houston Rockets centre has filed a lawsuit against the company for using the label "Yao Ming Era" on its shoes without his consent, Yao's management said. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson/Files (UNITED STATES - Tags: SPORT BASKETBALL)

Li Na of China kisses the championship trophy after defeating Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia in their women's singles final at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, Jan. 25, 2014. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

Japanese women's tennis player Naomi Osaka and men's badminton player Kento Momota are nominated for Laureus sports awards this year. Photos: AFP, Kyodo

Wu Lei at Espanyol: can China’s best footballer prove the doubters wrong?

Espanyol’s Wu Lei celebrates scoring against Barcelona as Jordi Alba looks on. Photo: Reuters

NBA: When China fell in love with Yao Ming’s Houston Rockets

Houston Rockets star Yao Ming making his presence felt during an NBA game in 2006. Photo: Reuters

Basketball Hall of Fame inductee Shaquille O'Neal, front left, helps fellow inductee Yao Ming, right, with his jacket during a news conference at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, Thursday, Sept. 8, 2016, in Springfield, Mass. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

FILE - In this Oct. 17, 2013, file photo, Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers, top row center right, former NBA Houston Rockets basketball player Yao Ming, top row center left, and NBA Commissioner David Stern, bottom left pose with children during the NBA Cares Special Olympics Basketball Clinic ahead of a 2013-2014 NBA preseason game against the Golden State Warriors in Shanghai, China. Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey tried Sunday, Oct. 6, 2019 to defuse the rapidly growing fallout over his deleted tweet that showed support for Hong Kong anti-government protesters, saying he did not intend to offend any of the team's Chinese fans or sponsors. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, FIle)

Chinese center Yao Ming talks to the media during a court-side interview at the Rockets practice facility in Houston October 21, 2002 in Houston. Ming, who played for the Shanghai Sharks of the Chinese Basketball Association and the Chinese National Team, was the first pick in the 2002 NBA draft and the first-ever international first round pick in NBA history. REUTERS/Richard Carson

Retired Houston Rockets center Yao Ming speaks during his jersey number retirement ceremony at halftime of an NBA basketball game between the Rockets and the Chicago Bulls, Friday, Feb. 3, 2017, in Houston. (AP Photo/Eric Christian Smith)

Retired Houston Rockets center Yao Ming speaks to the media before an NBA basketball game between the Houston Rockets and Chicago Bulls, Friday, Feb. 3, 2017, in Houston. Ming's jersey number will be retired during a halftime ceremony Friday night. (AP Photo/Eric Christian Smith)

NBA not only ones looking for next Yao Ming as other sports still hope to cash in on China

A fan holding a China flag watches the NBA China Games between the Brookyln Nets and Los Angeles Lakers in Shanghai in October 2019. Photo: AP

Basketball Hall of Fame inductee Yao Ming speaks during induction ceremonies, Friday, Sept. 9, 2016, in Springfield, Mass. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

People walk past the National Basketball Association (NBA) store in Beijing on October 9, 2019. - Chinese state media slammed the NBA for an "about-face" on October 9 after the body said it would not apologise for a tweet by the Houston Rockets general manager supporting pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. (Photo by GREG BAKER / AFP)

Chinese boys in jerseys of Germany's Bundesliga club Bayern Munich take part in a practice session after the opening ceremony of Bayern's office in Shanghai on March 22, 2017. Germany's Bayern Munich on March 22 became the first Bundesliga club to open an office in Shanghai. / AFP PHOTO / Johannes EISELE

Sport

Golf

Country is thriving off the pitch in sponsorship and hosting events such as Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics but lagging behind on it
Pioneers such as Li Na and Yao Ming have not been followed while F1 hope Zhou Guanyu is seen as an outlier


Country is thriving off the pitch in sponsorship and hosting events such as Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics but lagging behind on it.


Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games

US Open (tennis)

NBA (National Basketball Association)

Li Na

Beijing Winter Olympics 2022

Chinese Football Association (CFA)

Expresses the views, ideas and conclusions of the author. (Eg. Enough of Crazy Rich Asians, think of crazy poor Hongkongers.)


Opinion

Opinion | No new Yao Ming or Li Na sees Beijing 2022 host China still punching below its weight in sport

Country is thriving off the pitch in sponsorship and hosting events such as Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics but lagging behind on it Pioneers such as Li Na and Yao Ming have not been followed while F1 hope Zhou Guanyu is seen as an outlier

Country is thriving off the pitch in sponsorship and hosting events such as Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics but lagging behind on it

Pioneers such as Li Na and Yao Ming have not been followed while F1 hope Zhou Guanyu is seen as an outlier