Monkey King Steps Up to Bat for Chinese League

[DC09]

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's mythical Monkey King will swing his magical staff for baseball next month in a bid to help a fledgling league take root in a country besotted with soccer and basketball.

Sun Wukong, the legendary simian beloved for his mischievous ways, magical staff and supernatural powers, has been adopted as the China Baseball League's mascot, the organizing committee said on Tuesday.

One of the league's goals is to groom enough domestic talent to give China's national team a shot at qualifying for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

Although the sport is popular in Taiwan and Japan, baseball is virtually unknown among China's 1.3 billion people.

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