Gallery: Hot cheerleaders blamed for team's defeat at the Asian Games
With China sweeping up the gold medals faster than ever in Guangzhou, it leaves little mystery as to which country will top this Asian Games’ medal count on November 27 when the games come to a close.
That’s probably why the audience and photographers are looking away from the podiums for some excitement.
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The Chinese cheerleaders of the Guangzhou Asian Games have headlined the local press over the past few days, with those on the beach volleyball and basketball court getting an excessive share of the spotlight.
And at least one losing player blames them for his team's defeat. “[The cheerleaders] had an effect on how we played. I think they had something to do with our losing the match, ” said Yemenite beach volleyball player Adeeb Mahfoudh to The Telegraph yesterday. Yemen lost its beach volleyball game against Indonesia on November 16.
Who says China doesn’t have a secret weapon?
According to Ben Ben, captain of one of the beach volleyball cheering teams, most cheerleaders are
university students who went through a national draft. To prepare for this
Asian Games, those girls, whose average age is 20, have gone through some intensive
training since June.
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