Friday, August 19, 2011
China-US Basketball 'Friendly' Erupts Into Brawl
As U.S. Vice President Joe Biden built trust with China in Beijing's corridors of power, goodwill between the two nations unraveled on a nearby basketball court, where players beat each other up and even a chair was thrown.
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A 'friendship' game between Washington's Georgetown Hoyas and Chinese professional side the Bayi Military Rockets erupted into a brawl as the match wound down at Beijing's Olympic Stadium. It was unclear what triggered the fighting.
Players traded blows, someone in the crowd flung a chair, and fans tossed full water bottles at the Hoyas players and coaches as they headed to the locker room, writing off the rest of the game.
In China, state media did not report on the incident and microblogs were mostly silent as censors worked quickly to delete any references to the fight.
"Even the news about the fight between the Chinese and U.S. basketball teams needs to be cut," said a microblogger named Yinnu.
The brawl broke out one night after Biden, who is in Beijing on a four-day visit to discuss U.S.-Chinese economic relations, attended a Georgetown game against another Chinese club. That game, which Georgetown won, passed without a fist fight.