Photo Courtesy: cctv.com

China made a bold move to bolster its national team by letting go of Guo Shiqiang as head coach. Guo, a former national player, was China’s chief tactician in last year’s FIBA-Asia Championship where the Chinese was upset by defending champion Iran. He has been relegated as an assistant starting April 30, 2010.

Replacing Guo with American Bob Donewald, Jr. was a hard pill to swallow for the Chinese. For one,  the Mainlanders prefer their countryman to handle the coaching chores. This is the third time Chinese national team is handled by a foreigner though. First was Del Harris in the 2004 Athens Olympics and Jonas Kazlauskas in the 2006 FIBA-Worlds and 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Secondly, Guo’s experience as a national player should have been an advantage because he could easily relate with the players being a former player himself. However, China is all out to redeem its dominance in Asia. That is why it is banking on Donewald, whose coaching brilliance led the Shanghai Sharks to a semi final appearance in the recent CBA season. The Sharks bowed to the eventual champion Guangdong Southern Tigers though.

China seeks to regain its basketball supremacy  in this coming Asian Games in Guangzhou. It is for this reason that it had to let go of Guo.

**********

Thailand’s Natthaphong Samana and Sinthaweechai Hathairattanakool are both suspended after they picked up yellow cards in their game last Saturday. Both of them will miss the match against Singapore in the qualifying tournament of the Asian Cup on Wednesday.

**********

Argentine football icon Diego Maradona was banned from all football by FIFA for two months. The sanction came in response to Maradona’s sexually-explicit rant after Argentina’s game against Uruguay in the World Cup qualifiers last October.

**********

Christiano Ronaldo has rejoined Real Madrid’s training and may play against FC Zurich in the Champions League on November 25.  The Portuguese star had been suffering from an ankle injury for almost two months.

**********

Mexico’s Antonio De Nigris who played for Larissa in Greece died last Monday, November 16.  The cause of death was still unconfirmed but was suspected to be of a heart attack. The 31-year old striker is survived by his wife Sonia and his five-year old daughter Miranda.