A group of foreign coaches are hoping to raise China's sporting
level and help the athletes strike gold at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.
For the first time in the nation's history, over a dozen
overseas coaches are guiding teams from all sporting spheres.
"With the rapid development of the economy China has become more
international and open in many ways. It is the same in sport. It is
common to hire quality foreign coaches," said Xiao Tian, deputy
director of the State General Administration of Sport.
Basketball and football are the most popular sports, but they
too need improvement to reach international gold standard.
Under the helm of Lithuanian head coach Jonas Kazlauskas and
Australian coach Thomas Maher respectively, the men's and women's
basketball teams have their eyes on podium finishes in 2008 after
dominant performances at the Doha Asian Games in December.
In Doha, without NBA superstar Yao Ming, Kazlauskas relied on
the returning Wang Zhizhi and the nation's top NBA prospect Yi
Jianlian to win their sixth gold in the competition.
Kazlauskas and his staff now orient their focus on the 2008
Olympics in Beijing and how best to integrate Yao into the team
without breaking the growing partnership between Wang and Yi.
A top four or podium finish is likely more achievable for the
women than the men.
"I have a realistic hope that we can be in the final four. We
are not far behind the top eight," Maher said after China, the
defending champions, beat Chinese Taipei 90-59 to win their fourth
Asian title.
For the Australian mentor, who began his stint as China coach
after their disappointing ninth-place finish at the 2004 Athens Olympics, the Asian Games was just
"part of the journey to Beijing".
"If we didn't win this tournament it would have been a total
failure. We have another two years and we need that because we are
not ready for a medal yet," Maher said. "We can improve in many
ways."
The sport's governing body is happy with the performance of both
coaches.
"Basically we see them as being ambitious, having almost no
other hobby but basketball. They are serious and strict with the
team, they are clear on world basketball trends and we appreciate
their abilities on the court," said Hu Jiashi, deputy director of
the Basketball Administrative Centre.
Soccer style
China men's Olympic soccer team failed to reach the
quarterfinals in Doha, but veteran Ratomir Dujkovic's won plaudits
from home fans appreciative of his tactics.
Taking over the job two months ago, Dujkovic focused immediately
on alleviating pressure on his players, who are notorious for
losing control, mentally and tactically, in big matches.
"I have discovered that our team has talented players with a lot
of potential," said the 60-year-old Serbian, who is set to lead the
under-23 squad into the semifinals at the Beijing Games.
In comparison, Ma Liangxing's women's team fared less well,
losing to Japan in the group and getting eliminated in the
semifinals.
Ma's slump opened the door for German Krautzun Eckhard, the
former Chinese U-20 head coach, who has just been appointed as
women's football adviser.
The football governing body is anxious to see the women regain
their position as a dominant global force and win a medal in
2008.
It is believed that if Ma is unable to get the team to a
convincing level soon, he will be replaced by Eckhard.
A tale of two Kims
China's field hockey teams are both spearheaded by South Korean
coaches and are heading in the right direction as 2008 rolls
around.
Kim Chang-back helped the women's team successfully defend their
Asian Games title while Kim Sang-ryul inspired the men to a
historic second-place finish in Doha, ironically losing to his home
country South Korea 3-1.
The two Koreans' tough training methods have sparked criticism,
but their achievements silenced all doubters and won over the
players.
"Before the match and at the end of the match, I am Korean. They
(Korean players and coaches) are my students and also my friends.
But during the match, they are my opponents," said Sang-ryul. "My
duty is to coach. I try to beat every team. It is the same."
Chang-back's women's team is under even more pressure as
expectations are high.
"The Asian Games gold is very important to us. We know the coach
is under pressure and sometimes under fire. We hope the gold medal
will make him stay with us," said player Ren Ye.
Other foreign coaches earning success in China include Frenchman
Sebastien Dulcus, who guided young women's cyclist Guo Shuang to
two golds in Doha.
Under his guidance, Guo has made significant progress over the
past two years, collecting two national titles in half a year and
winning two gold medals in the World Cup series.
"I have been training Guo in Switzerland over the past four
months and I know her tactics well. She is such a talented girl,
and an expert in sprinting," said Dulcus. "Winning a medal for the
motherland is every cyclist's dream."
"The coach changed me a lot. I have been improving all the
time," said 20-year-old Guo, who has been tipped as a medal
contender in Beijing. Apart from technical skills, he also helps me
a lot in life. He is like an older brother and a good friend. I've
also begun to learn French from him!"
Jonas Kazlauskas
Sport: Basketball
Nation: Lithuania
With international caliber players like Yao Ming and the
talented Yi Jianlian, the pressure is on Kazlauskas to put together
a medal-winning team in time for the Beijing 2008 Olympics.
Kazlauskas, 52, joined the team in 2004 as assistant to veteran
NBA coach Del Harris. They reached the last eight at the Athens
Olympad, but since then progress has been tough as Kazlauskas has
sought to find the winning blend. While Yao, Yi and former NBA
player Wang Zhizhi form a solid front court, the back court has
been more of a problem.
The team reached the last 16 of the World Championships in Japan
in September, when they lost to eventual runners-up Greece. The
team underlined their regional dominance by winning the Asian Games
in Doha in December, a performance that pleased the coach: "The
team started playing defense and realised that defense is very
important and that it can bring us to another level."
Kazlauskas is a controversial figure, and his criticism of his
players has drawn a backlash from the fans. During the Asian Games
he accused Yi Jianlian of "not showing his talent on the court",
and said his team as a whole "was not tough enough".
Tom Maher
Sport: Basketball
Nation: Australia
Maher, 54, the first foreign coach for the country's women's
basketball team, was hired in 2004 to turn around the dwindling
fortunes of a team that had gone from silver medal heroes in
Barcelona 1992, to zeroes.
With talented young players including WNBA stars Sui Feifei and
Miao Lijie, and the 1.97 meter center Chen Nan, Maher believes his
team's inside attack can be a deadly ace against international
powerhouses like the United States.
Maher came into the job with a proven track record: he coached
seven championship winning teams in the Australian domestic league,
and led Australia to an Olympic bronze in Atlanta and silver in
Sydney. He has also worked as a head coach in the US WNBA
league.
His first tournament was a bust, as China crumbled to a
worst-ever 12th place at the World Championships in Brazil last
September. However, the youthful make up of the team means Maher is
still confident of success.
Of his aims for the next 12 months, he said "I have a realistic
hope that we can be in the final four. We are not far behind the
top eight."
Ratomir Dujkovic
Sport: Soccer
Nation: Serbia
Dujkovic, 60, is a journeyman international coach similar as
compatriot Bora Milutinovic, who guided China to the World Cup
Finals in 2002. The task facing Dujkovic is immense, as China has
performed consistently poorly since 2002, failing to qualify for
the World Cup in 2006 and sliding down the world rankings.
Olympic soccer is a different ball game however, with age
restrictions an advantage for teams like China whose strength lies
at youth level.
At the Doha Asian Games, the team played a refreshing, attacking
style, showing determination and motivation to win all three of
their group games. They eventually lost to Asian behemoth Iran,
fighting hard with 10-men before suffering heartbreak in a penalty
shoot-out.
Dujkovic coached Ghana to the last 16 of the 2006 World Cup in
Germany, and he has also coached Venezuela, Myanmar and Rwanda.
His aim now is a medal in 2008: "It's a great challenge because
I have an opportunity to bring something to the country. In every
country I have worked, I have moved the team between 25 and 30
places up the rankings."
Kim Chang-back
Sport: Field Hockey
Nation: South Korea
Kim, 51, has been heralded as one of the most successful foreign
coaches in China after lifting the nation's women's field hockey
players from obscurity to world acclaim.
He led the South Korean women's team to a string of successes in
the early 1990s, and his impact on the Chinese team upon his 1999
appointment was instant.
Coming out of nowhere, the team grabbed 5th place at the 2000
Sydney Olympics, and they then took gold at the 2002 Busan Asian
Games. They won the Champions Trophy in the same year, and finished
4th at the 2004 Athens Olympics.
The team's fortunes slipped as Kim sought to rebuild after
Athens, culminating in an embarrassing 10th place finish at the
World Cup this year. But with calls for his resignation clamoring,
the team bounced back to win the Asian Games in Doha in
December.
"So far Kim has done an excellent job and accomplished almost
everything he promised to the team," said the sport's chief Hu
Jianguo.
Kim Sang-ryul
Sport: Field Hockey
Nation: South Korea
Another Korean, another miracle? Kim Sang-ryul, 51, is hoping to
perform a similar feat to Kim Chang-back's, turning the men's field
hockey team from nobodies into world beaters. First impressions
seem good: The team went into the Doha Asian Games as underdogs,
but upset big names including India and Pakistan to reach their
first-ever final.
They lost 3-1 to favorites South Korea, but the message is
clear: this team can and will be competitive in time for Beijing
2008.
"In the past two years, he has led us to achieve results we
thought were impossible. I hope he can stay with us longer," said
team captain Song Yi.
Michael Bastian
Sport: Softball
Nation: United States
Bastian began coaching China's women's softball team in early
2006, but a fourth-placed finish at the World Championships in
September and a bronze medal in Doha have been seen as only modest
returns.
Bastian, 44, is trying to find a winning balance of power hits
and short plays. In Doha, they proved their hitting ability with a
slew of homers but defensively, the team was a mess, causing them
to lose to Chinese Taipei in the semifinals.
This defeat has put his future in doubt, and he will have to
wait until later this month to find out if he will coach the team
through to 2008.
Speaking after the World Championships, Bastian said his players
needed to lighten up: "They are the most hard-working and unselfish
people in the world, but they need to have more fun. That's the
reason I try to persuade them to hug me. I hope I can bring
happiness to them like a Teddy Bear."
Jim Lefebvre
Sport: Baseball
Nation: United States
The former Major League Baseball (MLB) player and manager, 63,
was assigned in 2002 by the MLB to help China improve its baseball
level and win a medal at the 2008 Beijing Games.
After China slumped at a club team tournament in Japan, the
under-fire coach did not show up in Doha, where China was crushed
by Asia's top trio of Japan, South Korea, and Chinese Taipei,
settling for a familiar fourth place.
Speaking after the Tokyo debacle, where the team were heavily
beaten by club sides from Japan, South Korea and Chinese Taipei, a
frustrated Lefebvre rounded on his players, accusing them of being
lazy: "They think an Asian cannot get strong. They just think they
are weak. Getting strong is easy if you are willing to work
hard."
Christian Bauer
Sport: Fencing
Nation: France
Bauer was invited to instruct China's sabre team in August.
Success was instant, as China swept gold at the Doha Asian
Games.
Bauer, 55, was a world champion fencer and used to coach the
French national and youth teams. He helped his students to win a
group silver medal in Sydney 2000 before moving to coach Italy. At
2004 Athens Games, he led the Italian sabres to a gold medal
haul.
Chinese hopes suffered a blow when men's foil and women's epee
were struck off the Olympic roster, so now hopes rest on Bauer's
fast-improving sabres to secure medals on home soil.
Sebastien Dulcus
Sport: Cycling
Nation: France
Sebastien Dulcus is the man charged with lighting a fire under
China's dimmed Olympic cycling dream.
The abrupt removal of the women's 500 meter time trial from the
Beijing Games (Jiang Yonghua won a silver at Athens in the event)
appeared to end the team's gold hopes. However, Dulcus guided
prodigy Guo Shuang to a podium finish in the Individual Pursuit at
the World Championships last year, as well as two gold medals at
the Doha Asian Games.
Josef Capousek
Sport: Canoeing
Nation: Germany
German canoeing great Capousek headed to China full of grit and
determination, spelling out his intention to help the team win at
least two golds at the Beijing Games.
At the Athens Olympics Meng Guanliang and Yang Wenjun won the
country's first gold medal, in the men's C2 500m event, but the
added pressure has not flustered Capousek at all. His professional
achievements to date are unprecedented: A 13-year stint as head
coach of the German national team saw 17 Olympic golds, eight
silvers and four bronzes.
Capousek's high-profile appointment had an instant impact on
China's canoeists -- they won one silver and three bronzes at the
World Championships and six golds and 13 silvers at the World Cup
series. They also notched a dominant six golds at the Doha
Games.
"Take a look at our results. You'll find everyone is able to win
gold," he said.
Igor Grinko
Sport: Rowing
Nation: Lithuania
China's rowing team is familiar with foreign coaches -- they
hired Polish-American Kris Korzeniowski in 1993, and he coached the
team to gold medals at the following World Championships. Grinko, a
close friend of Korzeniowski, is the former US and Soviet Union
Olympic rowing team coach. He helped China win three golds and a
silver at the World Rowing Championships in August, their best ever
results, and raised great hopes for the future.
Having coached dozens of medal-winning boats in more than ten
Summer Olympics, Grinko, 60, is optimistic he can help China win
its first rowing gold in 2008.
Masayo Imura
Sport: Synchronized Swimming
Nation: Japan
Imura, 55, is the latest foreign coach to sign up to help
China's 2008 Olympic efforts. She will coach the nation's
synchronized swimming team, a move that rocked Japan, a traditional
power in the sport.
Japanese fears look justified, as the team has already begun to
improve. They beat Japan into second place in duet and team
synchronized swimming at the Doha Asian Games, for the first time
in history.
Imura has guided Japan to podium finishes in each of the last
six Olympic Games and she will lead the Chinese to the World
Championships in the spring.
(China Daily January 4, 2007)