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Sport - Olympic Games

Yao — a humble celebrity

K. Keerthivasan

— PHOTO: AP

HOST NATION’S HOPE: Yao Ming is expected to provide an edge to the Chinese campaign.

He gives the impression of being a boy next door, truly has a heart large enough to donate liberally to the poor and underprivileged, has the spirit of a heavyweight boxer in the ring.

China’s Yao Ming, at 7 ft 6 inch, is easily one of the tallest hoopsters in the world now and every inch a humble celebrity in a country which has woken up to basketball in a big way in the last few years.

One of the richest sportspersons and a great ambassador of the sport in China, Yao has been involved in several charity works; the recent being the Yao Foundation which reconstructed schools damaged by the earthquake in the Sichuan Province.

Crane among chickens

Raised by parents who were professional hoopsters themselves, Yao was made to understand where his future lay. By 14, he looked like, as a local Chinese daily described him, “a crane towering over a flock of chickens.” After graduating from Shanghai Sharks, Yao made his debut as a first pick of Houston Rockets in the 2002 NBA Draft.

Hailing from a conservative family like most Asians, Yao took his own time to settle down in the competitive environs of USA.

Slowly and steadily he began to earn the trust and faith of his coach and co-players.

Injuries, however, have plagued his NBA career whenever it showed signs of an upward curve.

In his fourth season he injured his left foot and in his fifth he broke his right knee in February that effectively ended his NBA season.

Quick recovery

The 27-year-old has recovered pretty quickly and his re-entry into the National team for the Beijing Olympics will invigorate the team and the organisers, who are expecting basketball to be one of the most-watched disciplines in the Games, thanks to Yao.

It’s not that Yao is the only NBA player in the Land of Dragon, there is pivot Yi Jianlian (he plays for Milwaukee Bucks) and former NBA centre Wang Zhizhi.

The fans will be hoping the three to get cracking in its first match against multiple champion USA (China is in a tough group (‘B’) with Germany, Greece, African champion Angola and world champion Spain completing the list) and expect Yao, the All Star centre and the most experienced of the lot, to give the host the much-needed breakthrough — China has not advanced past the quarterfinals in the Games.

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