Who's hot, who's not in China Sports (Week 13)

Dream season

A perfect ending for Beijing Ducks, who won their first CBA championships Friday night. I now regret not buying a ticket the day before to witness the historical game, a breathtaking one from the tip-off to the final whistle, in person.

Never had I watched a basketball match that was played in such a script. The Ducks were left behind by a double-digit march quick in the first few minutes. They crawled back in the second quarter, thanks to Stephon Marbury's MVP-esque performance, including a slew of incredible 3-pointers, and took a 5-point lead at half.

The S Tigers denied an early exit, as they started the second half hot. Aaron Brooks and James Singleton were both on fire, and the S Tigers were back in the game and cut the deficit to 1 when the third quarter ended.

The last 12 minutes were full of ups and downs. Ducks were lost at the offensive end, which was partly due to the sub-par Randolph Morris, while the S Tigers took the upper hand again with their gritty defense. After Brooks dropped two treys and a tip-in, they were up by 10 with 7:14 to go. Ducks had a 15-3 run in the next three minutes, after a lifesaving 3 from Hsueh-Lin Lee to tie the score and a fast break layup from Zhai Xiaochuan.

Singleton hit a 3 and S Tigers retained the lead, but Morris answered with three free throws. Marbury then was fouled out while guarding Brooks with 1:21 remaining, when the game was tied at 121-121.

Zhai blocked Li Yuanyu's shot and Morris drew the 6th foul from Zhu Fangyu and hit two free throws. Brooks missed a 3 and Chen Lei closed the score with another free throw.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the 2011-2012 CBA Champions: Beijing Ducks.

Confetti showered down; the Ducks players huddled together in tears and exaltation; crowds chanted and cheered with great excitement; the MasterCard center turned into the greatest carnival ever.

"I had an ambition and a dream playing basketball here," said Marbury, who notched up 41 points, at the after-game dinner. "I want to thank coach Min, thank everybody in Shougang (Ducks) to give me the opportunity. And my teammates, too."

We shall thank you, dear Starbury, too, for bringing a dream season to all the fans who love this game.

Ding excels at home this time

Ding Junhui cruised into the semi-finals at the snooker China Open. He almost suffered another first-round exit in his home supporters on Wednesday, trailing 4-0 to England's Ben Woollaston. But the Chinese snooker ace made a superb comeback, reeling off five frames, and took the match.

In the second round, World No 1 Mark Selby, who was supposed to have a showdown with Ding, pulled out of the tournament due to a neck injury. Ding beat Ali Carter easily, 5-2, to book a semi-final berth, where he will face Peter Ebdon.

Li Na struggles in Miami

Li Na was thrashed by Maria Sharapova 6-3, 6-0, at the quarter-finals of the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami on Tuesday. It is Li's first loss to the Russian in three years, which she attributed to her 41 unforced errors.

Chinese combo fall short at worlds

Pang Qing and Tong Jian finished fourth with 186.05 points at the World Figure Skating Championships on Friday. The two-time world champions acknowledged afterward that they had not been in good shape for a while, which makes them think over the possibility of retirement.

Guo'an wins another archrival face-off

The Beijing Guo'an-Tianjin Teda rivalry has been known for its fierce game atmosphere and physical contact. That is what the spectators want, too - pumping out testosterone. Beijing Guo'an overpowered Tianjin Teda 3-1 at the Chinese Super League Friday night, extending their non-losing streak against their old foe to 10.

In another CSL titan clash, Guangzhou Evergrande stunned Shanghai Shenhua 1-0 on the road and clinched first place in the rankings.