Hoops back in spotlight

Carrara to host Brisbane Bullets clash with China

GOLD Coast fans will get a taste of international basketball ahead of next year’s Commonwealth Games when the Brisbane Bullets take on China at Carrara next month.

China will play two of Australia’s top NBL teams next month, taking on Melbourne United at Melbourne Park on July 16 before heading to the Gold Coast to play the Bullets on July 18.

The match will be held at the Gold Coast Sports and Leisure Centre at Carrara, the Games venue for badminton, weightlifting, powerlifting and wrestling.

It is a rare taste of elite basketball for the Coast, which lost NBL team the Blaze in 2012.

NBL Chief Executive Jeremy Loeliger said the games were a great opportunity to showcase basketball between two of the leading nations in the region.

“We are very excited to be hosting China in Australia to play against two of our biggest NBL clubs in Melbourne United and the Brisbane Bullets,” Loeliger said.

“We have a strong relationship with the Chinese Basketball Association led by its President Yao Ming and this is an opportunity to strengthen our ties with one of the biggest basketball markets in world.”

“We are particularly excited to be able to host a game in Melbourne but also on the Gold Coast which will stage the Commonwealth Games.”

While the Coast will hold the already sold out basketball finals at the Convention Centre, the preliminary rounds will be held in Cairns and Townsville, with the Chinese tour giving Gold Coast fans a rare chance to watch the sport at the elite level.

“It will be a great opportunity for the Bullets to play in front of fans at the Gold Coast at the new Carrara Stadium,” Loeliger said.

The games will be streamed live on NBL TV in Australia and to tens of millions of fans in China.

The China national team’s tour follows next month’s trip to that country by an NBL AllAustralian team playing three games against China, starting in Beijing on July 5.

The series will also feature games in Guangdong on July 7 and Jilin on July 9, with all three games to be broadcast live on Fox Sports in Australia.

It follows the success of last year’s tour of China by the NBL All-Australian team which was watched by a huge audience on Chinese television.