Thursday, October 14, 1999

TAIWAN STAR CHENG CHIH-LUNG TO PLAY IN CHINA

CHENG CHIH-LUNG, who was dubbed by ABC as Asian's best all-around player in 1998, has signed a one-season contract with China's Shanghai Sharks(Hilton League). Cheng officially announced the signing in the press cenference on October 11.

One of Taiwan's most celebrated basketball players to date, Cheng cited he wants to bring his talent to the competitive Chinese league, since Taiwan's CBA is still in the middle of the re-structure and failed time and again to find its direction.

"Money is one thing, but the most important reason for me to go out there is to prove myself and to keep working on my game.", Cheng said during the conference.

It's believed that Cheng signed with Sharks thru the help of SINAnet president Jiang Fong-Nian, who was rumored to be interested in being the minority owner of the Sharks. Cheng's monthly salary is believed to be in an estimate range of 8000-10000 USD, a lot higher than the Chinese local players.

Cheng will have a chance to join 18 year-old phenom Yao Ming, an agile 7-6 center who is in the attention by numerous U.S. college and pro teams, and make the Sharks a contending team in the Hilton League right away. He is expected to be in the starting lineup from day one.

Cheng will play with Shanghai from November to next April, then go back to Taiwan and consider his next move--whether it's signing with his former team Hong-kuo Elephants or moving on to Dacin Tigers, finishing last in the CBA in three consecutive seasons.

Many Taiwan players are ready to follow Cheng's footsteps. Liaoning Hunters, which finished second in the Hilton League last season, is said to be interested in 6-7 F/C HUANG CHUN-HSIUNG. And Huang did not rule out the possibility to go to China. Meantime, several players, led by 198cm NT center CHU CHIH-CHIN, will play in Singapore in the next few months.

Taiwanese players' exodus will probably speed up the CBA's clueless re-stucture, most believed.

Friday, October 01, 1999

ASIAN ALL-STAR CHENG CHIH-LUNG HEAD FOR CHINA

Ming-shen Daily, the leading sports newspaper in Taiwan, reported Thursday that Taiwan's top player Cheng Chih-Lung has agreed to a three-month, 30000 USD contract with China's Shanghai Sharks.

Shanghai Sharks did not release any official statement regarding Cheng's signing. It's believed Cheng got the deal with a little help from SINAnet, one of the biggest Chinese internet website company and owns 50% of the Sharks.

Cheng's original contract with three-time CBA champion Hong-kuo Elephants expired on September 1. However Cheng was reluctant to re-sign with Hong-kuo, citing the team's failure in taking care of its players. At 30 years-old, obviously Cheng wants to make the most out of the last few years of his career. Cheng noted another reason he decided to play in China: the CBA's slow development to bring back the league.

Ming-shen Daily reported that Cheng will join the Sharks as soon as November. If the CBA re-open its season on time in March next year, Cheng will consider coming back and sign with any team. Aside from Hong-kuo, Dacin Tigers is also recruiting Cheng hard.

In the meantime, the CBA's re-structure became the latest victim of the Taiwan earthquake, which occured on September 21 and killed more than 2000 people.

Due to the chaos through out the nation, the CBA has to again delay its re-structure schedule. The league is trying to arrange a charity game to donate all incomes to the victims in the quake.

Shin-kwang Group, which is interested in purchasing the Mars, also delayed its Board of Governors meeting indefinitely.