Two days before the Asian Games in Guangzhou, China, the Chinese men's soccer team lost 3-0 to Japan in a preliminary-round match. The Asiad's trip was a disaster to Chinese soccer.

Two days before the end of the Asian Games, the Chinese women's basketball team beat South Korea to claim the title, and one day later, the men's counterpart repeated the feat.

The contradiction between basketball and soccer was the highlight of the continental competitions, and one of the milestones of the long-run battle between the two most popular sports in China.

For the year of 2010, the basketball was on the upper hand.

Chinese sooccer suffered a series of scandals in which top officials, leading referees and star players were invovled in 2010. Nobody forsees a bright future of soccer.

Chinese basketball experienced a roller-and-coaster year though the sport was the most loved and exposed by Chinese fans according to some resouces of the State General Administration of Sport of China.

The success at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, where China finished in the top eight in men's basketball competition and fourth in the women' s, put the Chinese basketball on the track of fast development.

China kicked off the World Championships with high expectations in the summer. However, the men's team lost four matches in the preliminary round and finished out of top eight, while the women's team finished the record-worst 13th placings.

The men's national players were involved into a brawl with a Brazilian team in a warm-up match at Xuchang, Henan, on October 12, just one month before the Asiad.

Three players were banned from the training camp and the head coach and team manager were fined and apologized publicly to the fans.

The FIBA, world governing body of basketball, severely punished the head coach and three players, as well as the Chinese Basketball Association.

They set off an odyssey at Guangzhou amid severely critisism on their quick downfall at international competitions and their commitment to the national pride.

A double title at the Asian Games was not good enough to erase the criticism as fans wanted to see a revamped Chinese basketball comquer in Asia.

Veteran forward Wang Zhizhi, who is from the military club Bayi Fubang, took a leading role after the preliminary round, saving China from three hard-fought matches towards the title.

All the teammates put the gold medals onto his neck and bowed to him after the podium ceremony. The scene was so moving that all the fans and local media praised the men's national team as a union.

Reports said a total of 120 million people watched the championship match of the men's basketball on November 26.

The basketball reached a new high after the 2008 Olympics and a record-breaking 19 sponsors co-operated with the Chinese Basketball Association league (CBA), which started within two weeks after the Asiad.

"Basketball is becoming the most popular sport in China. Our job is to keep basketball on track and away from scandals and dirty whistles like soccer," said Li Jinsheng, vice president of the CBA.

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