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This Chinese giant will never fall

China mourned Yao Ming’s ankle injury although confidence was high that the basketball superstar would be fit to take his place as one of the faces of the Beijing Olympic Games.

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The whole country prays for Yao Ming’s recovery as the basketball star fights to be fit for the Olympics

BEIJING: China mourned Yao Ming’s ankle injury although confidence was high that the basketball superstar would be fit to take his place as one of the faces of the Beijing Olympic Games in August.

The 27-year-old is China’s most popular sportsman and the impact of his possible absence from the Games goes well beyond the host country’s already slim chances of winning a basketball medal on home soil. Beijing Olympic organisers, sponsors such as Reebok, Visa and Coca Cola as well as the National Basketball Association (NBA) have all used Yao’s image to promote their interests in the world’s most populous country. Basketball is fast becoming China’s favourite sport, particularly among the young, and the prospect of the 7 ft 6 in Yao missing out on the country’s big sporting party dominated the sports pages on Thursday. “My left foot ... Yao’s agony”,  read the headline in the China Daily. “‘Injury to Yao’s body, hurt in our heart”, said Shanghai Morning Post.
 
Because of his popularity and international reknown, Yao is a leading candidate to fulfill the prestigious
role of lighting the cauldron at the showpiece stadium for the Olympics, the Bird’s Nest, on August 8.

A spokesman for the Beijing Organising Committee for the Olympic Games said “like all Chinese”, the organisers hoped Yao would be fit to take part in the Games. “Pray for Yao Ming”, read the banner headline on the NBA website adding underneath: “The Giant will never fall.”

Most Chinese, though, were reassured by the doctor’s assessment that his recovery from the stress fracture would take at most four months, meaning he should play at least some part in the Games.

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