CCTV side to take on Dream Team

What is it with reality TV this month? Not to be outdone by that little upstart ICS, the big boys over at CCTV5 have devised a show of their own. Over the last few months thousands of wannabe b-ballers across the nation have been given their all on the court in the hope of being selected for the China Streetball All-Stars, who will be taking on their American counterparts in three exhibition games to be held in arenas in Beijing, Wuhan and – yes, yes y’all – Shanghai. And the whole process is being filmed for an eight-episode how-they-got-there series entitled Shemgod that begins airing in September. What we’re looking at is China Idol meets Hoop Dreams. Whoop! Whoop!

Xinjiang University lost their first game Sunday, but came back Monday morning and crushed last year's champions, Qinghua University, 10-1.

Coach Parhat Ablat was mighty proud Monday morning when his team took down last year's China National College Baseball Tournament champions.  For many of his players, it was only their second time playing against another team, as the Xinjiang University guys are the only college-aged baseball team in the province.They are the only team thus far in this yera's tournament to score three home runs in one game.

The Xinjiang University Baseball Team hopes to compete in the China National College Baseball Tournament.

The team must raise $4,000 USD to bring the 18-person team by train to Shanghai. Go here to donate. 

Beat, drink and be merry…
Getting competitive in the comfort of the pub

So you’ve been happier than a pig in swill, over-indulging on an epic scale for the last month, but now everywhere you turn lame-o losers keep telling you it’s time to clean up your act, right? Wrong! January is positively the worst month to get sporty in Shanghai – it’s brass monkey weather out there and raining cats and dogs. But it’s warm and dry in the boozer, plus they positively encourage you to wet your whistle. What’s more, they have their own olympiad of competitive pursuits with which to satisfy your sporting instincts. So crack open a brew, take a nice long drag on that fag and keep reading…

This new fitness craze involves suspending your body (and inhibitions) and taking to the air on the FlySet. This ingenious piece of equipment resembles a trapeze bolted on a swivel and attached to the gym ceiling. Created by Reebok with the help of acrobats from the infamous Cirque du Soleil, the class is set to actual music from Cirque shows and the choreography (which took eight months to perfect) is based on moves that performers actually do. After an exhilarating hour of swinging, straddling, spinning, lunging, hanging and twirling you’re left grinning. Despite the promise of incredibly sore muscles the following morning, it makes for a great, fun, all-body workout which streches, tones and builds muscle. So long treadmill, we’re doing our exercise in the air.

5253 0093, www.willsgym.com