CHN - Xinjiang rapped, Guangsha replace them in play-offs

BEIJING (CBA) - Zhejiang Guangsha would have preferred reaching the play-offs by finishing in the top eight, but they're more than happy to go into the post-season from ninth spot after the CBA banned Xinjiang.

Having been one of the top two sides all season, finishing second to Guangdong, Xinjiang were excluded from the play-offs as punishment for using a player Guan Xiuchang as a Chinese national.

Guan was accused of forging a passport to show he is a Chinese citizen.

The CBA said in a statement: "The 18 games of Xinjiang Guanghui which Guan Xiuchang played in are 0:20 (forfeits), their ranking is 11th in regular season.
 
"The issue regarding Guan Xiuchang using the fake identity card of Chinese residence is now reported to the police. Guan Xiuchang will never play any basketball games in China held by Chinese Basketball Association." 
 
 
"We hope that Xinjiang Guanghui Club will learn from this issue, make a sincere apology to the public, take the punishment by the CBA seriously, strengthen the work of the management and console the Xinjiang supporters.

"Meanwhile, we hope the other clubs will learn from this and strengthen the work off their management in order to prevent similar things from happening again."
 
As for Guangsha, they are very confident heading into the post-season and for good reason.

At the end of the regular campaign, they defeated Bayi to complete a two-game sweep of the Zhejiang Derby.

They leapfrogged Beijing to finish ninth.

Even before they knew if they would reach the play-offs, Guangsha were weighing up their post-season possibilities.
 
"We've not been giving up, even during the last few games, the chance for us to get into the play-offs is remote, but we've been fighting even if there is only a faint hope," Ye Xiangyu, the general manager of Guangsha, said to TITAN before the announcement of the Xinjiang Guanghui club.
 
"We respect the result of the investigation from the Basketball Administrative Centre and believe they will fix things correctly. Fake is certainly not good, it will ruin the image of CBA."
 
Ye Xiangyu encouraged the players, saying: "If we could join the play-offs, we should not be swept."

They had wanted to play Bayi, but instead will face Guangdong, the team that won three straight titles before falling to Bayi in last season's final.

CBA Playoff Schedule For First Round

2008-01-16 19:30 Bayi at Liaoning
2008-01-16 19:30 Guangsha at Guangdong
2008-01-16 19:30 Dongguan at Shandong
2008-01-16 19:30 Fujian at Jiangsu

2008-01-18 19:30 Liaoning at Bayi
2008-01-18 19:30 Guangdong at Guangsha
2008-01-18 19:30 Shandong at Dongguan
2008-01-18 19:30 Jiangsu at Fujian

2008-01-20 19:30 Liaoning at Bayi
2008-01-20 19:30 Guangdong at Guangsha
2008-01-20 19:30 Shandong at Dongguan
2008-01-20 19:30 Jiangsu at Fujian

2008-01-22 19:30 Bayi at Liaoning
2008-01-22 19:30 Guangsha at Guangdong
2008-01-22 19:30 Dongguan at Shandong
2008-01-22 19:30 Fujian at Jiangsu

2008-01-23 19:30 Bayi at Liaoning
2008-01-23 19:30 Guangsha at Guangdong
2008-01-23 19:30 Dongguan at Shandong
2008-01-23 19:30 Fujian at Jiangsu

FIBA