With a seldom-known nickname of "Yao Ming in wheelchair", cager
Ding Hai scored 14 points, the most allowed for any individual in a
wheelchair basketball game, to pace his Liaoning team for a
lop-sided victory of 73-25 over Henan at the 7th Chinese National
Games for the Disabled in Kunming on Monday.
The 21-year-old Ding, in a jersey number nine, showed perfect
skills in shooting, rebounding and teamwork on the court, and
becomes the first disabled Chinese athlete joining in a league
abroad.
However, like neither Yao Ming, a NBA center of the Houston
Rockets nor Zheng Zhi, a midfield on loan for Charlton in the
English Premiership, Ding, with his lower part of left leg lost in
a car accident, has never caught any attention at home despite his
stardom in Montur El Cid in the Spanish wheelchair basketall league
since October, 2006.
In 2005, Ding left a deep impression for a visiting manager of
Montur El Cid who attended a wheelchair basketball game in China's
southeastern city of Shenzhen. Since then, Carlos Alonso, the
general manager of the Spanish club, visited China time and again
to negotiate for the transfer of Ding with the Chinese sports
officials.
Against the fact that none of any Chinese disabled athletes had
ever been sent to any league abroad before, Ding eventually made
the epoch-making journey to Spain for a trial in April and signed a
contract in October last year after receiving permission from the
China Disabled Persons' Federation.
"Quick, young and good at running wheelchair," said Ding's coach
Juan Bedia, former coach of Spain's national wheelchair basketball
team, who made the special tour to Kunming for an inspection of his
disciple.
"In two or three years, Ding must be a great player," added
Alonso, who also flew to Kunming together with Bedia on the same
mission.
Born in 1986, Ding suffered the accident when he was only
four-year old. But he didn't stop playing basketball and even went
to school with normal fellows. Later, he became a lone member with
physical disability of the basketball team in his school.
"I kept playing basketball with normal students since grade one
in middle school, until a coach of the Liaoning provincial
team had a sight of me," Ding said, "He thought I was good
enough, and I turned to professional when I was 16."
"I never consider myself a disabled. I'm able to do anything
other people do, and can even do something they cannot do," said
Ding.
Living in the city of Burgos, a two-hour ride from Madrid, Ding
has a part-time job in a potato processing factory as "we have to
learn how to survive by our own."
Apart from basketball, Ding also likes music, fishing and
playing games on internet, cherishing a hope of receiving advanced
education some day in future.
"He has good techniques, and is easy to get along with.
Sometimes, he is noisy and a little gluttonous, but we like him,"
said Huang Xunan, a winning teammate in the 6th National Games for
the Disabled.
Ding hoped to gain more competitiion experience and basketball
skills in order to attend the Beijing Paralympic in 2008.
Besides, "I also hope that I can compete against Yao Ming face
to face some day."
(Xinhua News Agency May 15, 2007)