Following are the top 10 Chinese sports news stories in the year of 2005 selected by Xinhua News Agency (listed in time order):

1. The Chinese Swimming/Diving Administration kicked Olympic champion diver Tian Liang out of the national team in January for taking part in too many unauthorized commercial activities.

Tian, 10m platform winner in the 2000 Olympics and 10m synchronized gold medalist in 2004, proved his No. 1 status by beating former national teammate Hu Jia to win the National Games 10m title in October.

2. A ray of hope was seen on the Chinese men's soccer team, which won the East Asian Four-Nation Tournament and East Asian Games under the guidance of Zhu Guanghu, while the women's national side went into free fall. Pei Encai resigned as the women's team head coach and Ma Liangxing was invited back at the helm.

3. Chinese NBA star Yao Ming won the "Model Worker" honor while Olympic 110m hurdles gold medalist Liu Xiang was named the Alternative Sportsperson of the Year at the 2005 Laureus World Sports Awards. Yao helped the Chinese team win their fourth straight Asian championship and Liu picked a silver medal in the world championships in August.

4. Beijing chose five stylized doll mascots for the 2008 Olympic Games on Nov. 11, representing a panda, a Tibetan antelope, a swallow, a fish and the spirit of the Olympic flame.

Announced in a live nationwide broadcast with only 1,000 days to go before the opening ceremony, the mascots will join the official games slogan "One World, One Dream" and a running man emblem which looks like the Chinese character for "capital".

5. Twelve weightlifters in central China's Hubei province were banned for two years for doping in June and their coaches banned for life for trying to hide the drug use.

China has conducted one of the world's biggest anti-doping programs in recent years in an effort to restore its reputation after being battered by a string of drug scandals in the 1990s.

6. Hu Kai, a student from prestigious Tsinghua University, won the men's 100m dash in the World University Games in August and claimed the East Asian Games title two months later.

7. The 10th Chinese National Games was held in southeast China's Jiangsu province from Oct. 12 to 23. Six world records and five Asian marks were shattered in China's dress rehearsal for the 2008 Olympics. But the games was tainted by the positive dope test returned by star distance runner Sun Yingjie, match-fixing accusations, controversial refereeing, angry protests and walkouts.

8. China marked the 10th anniversary of the Sports Law and National Fitness Program.

9. Macao held a glitch-free East Asian Games from Oct. 29 to Nov. 6, winning praises from nine participating countries and regions.

10. Chinese mountaineers Wang Yongfeng, Ci Luo and Liu Jian reached the South Pole on Dec. 16, completing the "Seven Plus Two Mission". The trio have cleared the seven top summits in seven continents and reached both the North and South Poles.

Source: Xinhua