Great Moments in US-China Relations (Video): Basketball Game Ends in Mass Brawl on Thursday
Friday, August 19, 2011 at 8:47In 1971, when a US table tennis team visited China, its "ping-pong" diplomacy opened the way for the detente between Washington and Beijing.
Forty years, in the continuation of this sporting relationship, Georgetown University sent its basketball team --- one of the best in the US --- to China for a series of five exhibition matches.
The cultural diplomacy did not quite go as planned.
With less than 10 minutes remaining in a game tied at 64-64 with Bayi Beijing, a brawl broke out after a scuffle on the court. Georgetown guard Jason Clark was kicked by multiple Bayi players and a member the Bayi training/coaching staff and Georgetown center Henry Sims was struck by a chair. Georgetwon forward Moses Ayegba, unable to play with an ankle injury, carried a chair onto the court, claiming self-defense.