Mongolia's Harlem Globetrotter plots China downfall
(Reuters) - The big skies and wide open spaces of the Mongolian grasslands seem an odd place for a Harlem Globetrotter to spring from, but 2.15m tall Sharavjamts Tserenjankhar has become used to standing out in the crowd.
Adjusting to Guangzhou's muggy climate while preparing Mongolia's basketball team to take on China at their home Asian Games on Tuesday may take more time, however.
"In Mongolia, you can find the purest air in the world. Here, it is humid, the air is a little smoky," Tserenjankhar, the team's 36-year-old centre, told Reuters in an interview, nodding at the sepia-toned sky hanging over the Games' gleaming gymnastics venue.
A veteran of the 2002 Busan Games, Tserenjankhar, has come out of retirement to try to inspire his young team to cobble a victory or two against Group E rivals North and South Korea, Uzbekistan and Jordan.
Goal one has already been accomplished, a four-point victory over fellow central Asian strugglers Turkmenistan in a qualifier.
China with their tall, ex-NBA players and passionate home crowd will be more formidable opponents, but the soft-spoken Tserenjankhar is no stranger to adversity.
Part of what he describes as "probably the tallest family in Mongolia", Tserenjankhar was born to a mother who played national volleyball and father who also played basketball for Mongolia. His brother stands 2.08 metres, 22 centimetres taller than his father, while his sisters are both well over six feet.
He grew up in a small town in the country's far east and remembers tough times during the Communist era, when food and basic provisions were scarce.
"Sometimes all we had was salt in the shops," he said.
At first a high-jumper then a volleyballer, Tserenjankhar did not pick up basketball until he was well into high school but fell in love with the game after Communism collapsed and NBA games starting appearing on television.
"I played it in the winter time when (the temperature) was in the negative 30s. Even when the snow was on the ground and the ball could not bounce," he said.
He was discovered by American former college basketball coach Dale Brown at a basketball clinic in Mongolia in 2001.
Lousiana State University coach Brown, credited with bringing Shaquille O'Neal into college basketball after meeting him as a teenager at his stepfather's army-base in West Germany years before, coaxed Tserenjankhar to the United States.
Too old for college basketball, Brown secured an invitation for Tserenjankhar to play with the Harlem Globetrotters where he played around 400 games in three years and travelled the world.
"It was tough but it was fun. They were very wise guys. I liked them and they liked me."
Slapstick antics and trick shots may not get Mongolia over the line against China but Tserenjankhar has already had the measure of one of their better players, former NBA player Wang Zhizhi.
"I remember him when he was 14 years old. He came to Mongolia and was playing in the army youth team ... I can clearly remember him because he didn't score anything."
Adjusting to Guangzhou's muggy climate while preparing Mongolia's basketball team to take on China at their home Asian Games on Tuesday may take more time, however.
"In Mongolia, you can find the purest air in the world. Here, it is humid, the air is a little smoky," Tserenjankhar, the team's 36-year-old centre, told Reuters in an interview, nodding at the sepia-toned sky hanging over the Games' gleaming gymnastics venue.
A veteran of the 2002 Busan Games, Tserenjankhar, has come out of retirement to try to inspire his young team to cobble a victory or two against Group E rivals North and South Korea, Uzbekistan and Jordan.
Goal one has already been accomplished, a four-point victory over fellow central Asian strugglers Turkmenistan in a qualifier.
China with their tall, ex-NBA players and passionate home crowd will be more formidable opponents, but the soft-spoken Tserenjankhar is no stranger to adversity.
Part of what he describes as "probably the tallest family in Mongolia", Tserenjankhar was born to a mother who played national volleyball and father who also played basketball for Mongolia. His brother stands 2.08 metres, 22 centimetres taller than his father, while his sisters are both well over six feet.
He grew up in a small town in the country's far east and remembers tough times during the Communist era, when food and basic provisions were scarce.
"Sometimes all we had was salt in the shops," he said.
At first a high-jumper then a volleyballer, Tserenjankhar did not pick up basketball until he was well into high school but fell in love with the game after Communism collapsed and NBA games starting appearing on television.
"I played it in the winter time when (the temperature) was in the negative 30s. Even when the snow was on the ground and the ball could not bounce," he said.
He was discovered by American former college basketball coach Dale Brown at a basketball clinic in Mongolia in 2001.
Lousiana State University coach Brown, credited with bringing Shaquille O'Neal into college basketball after meeting him as a teenager at his stepfather's army-base in West Germany years before, coaxed Tserenjankhar to the United States.
Too old for college basketball, Brown secured an invitation for Tserenjankhar to play with the Harlem Globetrotters where he played around 400 games in three years and travelled the world.
"It was tough but it was fun. They were very wise guys. I liked them and they liked me."
Slapstick antics and trick shots may not get Mongolia over the line against China but Tserenjankhar has already had the measure of one of their better players, former NBA player Wang Zhizhi.
"I remember him when he was 14 years old. He came to Mongolia and was playing in the army youth team ... I can clearly remember him because he didn't score anything."
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