(Sports Focus) Yearender: Top 10 Chinese Sports News in 2015

Following are China's top 10 sports news in 2015 selected by Xinhua (in time sequence):

   1. He Zhenliang, a former International Olympic Committee vice president and the honorary president of the Chinese Olympic Committee, died at a hospital in Beijing on January 4, at the age of 85. He was instrumental in Beijing's successful bid for the 2008 Summer Olympics.

   2. Chinese real estate and entertainment conglomerate Wanda Group paid 1.05 billion euros for Infront Sports and Media, a world leading sports marketing group, in February and bought the World Triathlon Corporation for 650 million euros. It also took a 20 percent stake in Spanish champion soccer team Atletico Madrid for 44.98 million euros. 

   3. China's cabinet unveiled wide-ranging soccer reform plans on March 16, to raise the level of soccer in the country. The 50-point plan includes instructions to promote soccer on school campuses, create schools dedicated to training aspiring professional players and expand the number of stadiums. 

   4. Chinese ultra-marathon runner Chen Penbin completed a feat of running 100 marathons in 100 consecutive days. Chen, a former fisherman, started the challenge in Guangzhou on April 2 and finished his 100th 42.195-kilometer race in Beijing on July 10.

   5. Former Olympic champion hurdler Liu Xiang announced his retirement on his microblog on Arpil 7, citing age and injuries 2 1/2 years after his last race. Liu became the first Chinese man to win Olympic gold in athletics at the 2004 Athens Games in the 110-meter hurdles. He set a world record in 2006, and won at the world championships in 2007. The Shanghai native hadn't competed since withdrawing at the London Olympics in 2012 after rupturing his Achilles tendon. He pulled out of the 2008 Beijing Games with a similar injury. 

   6. Su Bingtian dashed to a career best of 9.99 seconds to finish third behind American Tyson Gay and Mike Rodgers in the men's 100-meter race at the 2015 IAAF Diamond League Eugene meet on May 30, becoming the first Chinese to dip under the 10-second barrier in 100m. Three months later at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing, the 26-year-old clocked 9.99s again to become the first Chinese to reach the men's 100m final in the worlds. He also steered the country's 4x100 meter men's relay team to a shock silver medal at the world championships behind Usain Bolt's all-conquering Jamaica.

   7. Beijing defeated Almaty of Kazakhstan in the International Olympic Committee vote on July 31, becoming the first city in Olympic history to be awarded both the winter and summer games. 

   8. Chinese swimmer Ning Zetao won the men's 100-meter freestyle in 47.84 seconds at the world championships in Kazan, Russia, on August 6. The 22-year-old became the first man from Asia to win a medal of any color in the 100 free at the worlds since 1973.

   9. China beat Japan 3-1 (25-17, 22-25, 25-21, 25-22) on September 6 to win its fourth women's volleyball World Cup title and secure a berth at the 2016 Olympics. Chinese spiker Zhu Ting was named the Most Valuable Player of the event. It was also China's first title since 2004 from the three major events of volleyball - the World Cup, World Championship and Olympic Games.

   10. Guangzhou Evergrande won an unprecedented fifth straight Chinese Super League title in 2015. The team coached by Luiz Felipe Scolari also claimed its second AFC Champions League title in just three years. But Guangzhou Evergrande drew waves of criticism from the public as the team unilaterally changed their kit for AFC Champions League final without the consent of shirt advertisement sponsor.  Endi