Following the successful conclusion of the China University Basketball league (CUBA) division I sub-regional qualifiers in Northeast and Southwest region, comes the third leg of qualifier in Northwest region from 11-19 April. The event, organised by Federation of University Sports of China (FUSC), will see around 400 athletes from 22 universities at Shanxi University of Finance and Economics competing for the six available spots—also booking them a ticket to the national finals in each category.

According to competition regulations, a total of 32 men’s teams and 24 women’s teams will take part in the national finals. Later this month, the last leg of qualifiers in the Southeast region will take place at Shanghai University of Engineering Science, finishing the second phase of 2020-2021 CUBA division I season.

This comes after the COVID-19 epidemic prevention and control situation in China is improving steadily and the normal economic and social life is restored gradually, which provides a favorable condition for resumption of sports games with return of spectators. The provincial opening match on 26 November 2020 at Huazhong University of Science and Technology allowed a maximum stadium capacity of 50%, which was later increased to 70% capacity during the 2021 CUBA all-star games held since 23 March in Chongqing, China.

However, allowing the fans come back to the stadium doesn’t not mean the ease of prevention and control measures at all, in fact the game infection-control protocol has been standardized and routinized instead, drawing the valuable experience from the last season, which involve testing of players, media, league staff and spectators in advance, periodical disinfection every day, setting up isolation area etc. to administer a closed loop management for different client groups.

With the onsite cheering of spectators, the popularity of CUBA games is growing dramatically both on and off campus. From 23-31, March, during the finished tournament of Northeast region in Qingdao city, a cumulative of more than 36,400 fans swarmed into the venue to cheer for their favorite players and games; meanwhile, live streaming by Youku drew more than 3.4 million views online.

On 13, March, 2021 CUBA All-star Game was held successfully, in the face of the 2,500 onsite cheering spectators, drawing more than 17 million accumulated views via live streaming, 10 times higher than the last edition. Journalists from mainstream media outlets, such as People’ Daily, Xinhua News Agency, CCTV-5, etc. went on the scene actively to cover the event. It was so popular among local residents that the top-priced tickets, about USD 135 per person, were sold out right after its release within hours. The spectators enthusiasm also sparked the passion of the players, “it has been almost a year that we didn’t play games in the face of the fans, I am so surprised to see the number of spectators coming and very much encouraged hearing the familiar waves of cheering from the fans, thanks so much for all CUBA has done to make this possible”, said Baiqing Zhao excitedly, a popular star from the powerhouse Beijing University Mens’ Varsity.

“As the organizer of CUBA, putting the health and safety all the participants at a paramount place, FUSC will coordinate all resources possible to resume university sports games step by step, inspiring more collegians to fall in love with sports, participate more in sports, and achieve well-being in both mind and body”, explained Yanqing Xue, Vice president of Federation of University Sports of China, in a feature interview by CCTV-5, the top national Sports TV station.

As the FUSC’s top league, CUBA is classified into three Divisions in both men and women’s categories, namely Division I for high-level student athletes from universities or colleges offering degree programmes, Division II for common students from universities or colleges offering degree programmes, and Division III for students of Higher Vocational Colleges. The whole season includes 3 phases, provincial (municipal) games, sub-regional qualifiers and national finals.

Besides the ongoing division I games, CUBA division III has just kicked off on 8 April, while division II will take place on 17 April. The grand finale in the form of national finals are scheduled to be held in June 2021.

（Source: Federation of University Sports of China）