History
The Beijing Ducks were initially formed as the Beijing Men's Basketball Team in 1956. That same year in October, the National Basketball League was held in Chongqing. Team Beijing, with only 7 players registered on their roster won the championship of that NBL edition. The team managed a third place finish in the same competition when the tournament was held in Hangzhou, 1961.
In 1988, the team was sponsored by Shougang Corporation, thus being renamed the Beijing Shougang. When the duck was confirmed as Beijing's mascot in 1995, the team participated in the inaugural season of the Chinese Basketball Association as the Beijing Shougang Ducks Basketball Team. On October 1977, the Shougang Corporation once again renamed the team Beijing Shougang Basketball Club.
The team had a formidable front court duo with Mengke Bateer debuting for Beijing at the age of 18 and Shan Tao, considered to be one of the top Chinese centers at that time. The two helped Beijing to a third place finish in the team's CBA debut.
Read more about this topic: Beijing Ducks
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“Look through the whole history of countries professing the Romish religion, and you will uniformly find the leaven of this besetting and accursed principle of action—that the end will sanction any means.”
—Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834)
“The view of Jerusalem is the history of the world; it is more, it is the history of earth and of heaven.”
—Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881)
“Don’t give your opinions about Art and the Purpose of Life. They are of little interest and, anyway, you can’t express them. Don’t analyse yourself. Give the relevant facts and let your readers make their own judgments. Stick to your story. It is not the most important subject in history but it is one about which you are uniquely qualified to speak.”
—Evelyn Waugh (1903–1966)