Talking Balls: Snooker Scalpings & Soccer Stars
Ticket touting has long been the scourge of sports in the West, and if you go further West you’d know it as scalping. Here in China it’s often to the benefit of fans. Take the example recorded by a Sina reporter yesterday at the Sanyuan Foods China Open (that’s snooker, by the way) and the bargains to be had. He was offered a ticket with a face value of RMB 200 for RMB 100 which is 50% off for starters but the seasoned spectator showed no interest. The tout’s response in the face of such indifference? “80? 50? 20? 10 kuai! You can’t go below that!”
The moral of the story is that those out to make a quick buck on the back of the interest of sports fans don’t always win. Actually, that’s too long. The moral is that you can save plenty of cash buying tickets on the street. We don’t encourage this though.
However, these bargains were for the Wildcard round. Prices quoted for Ding Junhui’s game today by scalpers was RMB 400. You could just click here. Directions to the Beijing University Student Gymnasium are here. Ding once won his own weight in pies, lucky man.
ZZ Watch: Glasgow Celtic have got themselves a new manager in the shape of Neil Lennon. This change of personnel has not helped Zheng Zhi get more playing time – in fact ZZ did not even make the matchday squad for Lennon’s first game in charge of the Bhoys. So far this season Zheng has started seven games and come on as sub in a further seven of Celtic’s 31 league games.
Hao Junmin came on as a 69th minute substitute for Edu Goncalves as Schalke 04 beat Bayer Leverkusen 2-0 to go top of Germany’s Bundesliga.
The CSL kicked off last weekend. The big signing of the season, Mohamed Kallon, scored from the spot as his Shaanxi Chanba side drew 1-1 with Dalian Shide. Highlights here.
There were 50,000 fans at the match in Xi’an. In Beijing, 45,000 packed the Workers’ Stadium to see the reigning champions beat Nanchang Bayi 2-0. Joel Griffiths and Wang Xiaolong scored for the Big Green Machine. Highlights here. There is still no news as to whether the “Big Green Machine” nickname has caught on. The goalscoring Griffiths later spoke of his hope to go to the World Cup with Australia. Good luck with that.
Guoan takes on Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma in AFC Champions’ League at Gongti on Wednesday at 7.30pm. Tickets now officially need to be purchased with “real ID” at 5905 9082 or here . They’ll cost you RMB 50-100. For a list of ticket booth around town, click here, right, don’t forget your “real name ID”. That should encourage people to go, or would they be better off trying their luck at Gongti on Wednesday?
Finally, Yao Ming showed up with his wife Ye Li to the Yao Ming Foundation Charity Gala at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston yesterday, Marc J. Spears from Yahoo sports talked to him on the night and wrote this, for more on the gala click here and for photos click here.
