One of Saturday's highlights was China's match with Germany in the men's basketball Group B Preliminary Round. China edged Germany, 59 to 55.
It was enough to put China through to the quarter-finals, after a previous victory over Angola. The key match attracted millions of Chinese viewers in China as well as overseas.
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Yao Ming (R) of China vies with Christopher Kaman of Germany during the match China vs. Germany in men's preliminary round group B of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games Basketball event in Beijing, China, Aug. 16, 2008. [Xinhua]
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Several Chinese families in Belgium watched Saturday's match together, and were thrilled when China made it to the quarter-finals.
Luo Yuhong, chief editor of Chinese Business View, said, "It was such a close competition. Yao Ming performed very well. When the German team was just one point behind the Chinese team, we were all nervous."
The Beijing Olympics are a source of pride and interest to overseas Chinese. And while they cheer for Team China, many are also enjoying other world-class competitions. After the basketball match, they watched the Usain Bolt of Jamaica break his own world record as he won the men's 100-meter title.
A chinese in Belgium said, "I'm very interested in the Chinese athletes' performance. And other events like 100-meter one are also very exciting."
Yao Wei, editor of Chinese Business View, said, "I watched many events, like today's basketball. And I'm also looking forward to Liu Xiang's 110-meter hurdle race. The first thing in the morning for me is to see how many gold medals China has won. It's possible that China wins more gold medals than in any previous games."
(CCTV August 17, 2008)