China: table tennis champion fined for drunk driving

Kong Linghui, 31, crashed a Porsche Boxster into a Beijing taxi cab at 3:30 am Saturday (1900 GMT Friday), the Xinhua News Agency said on its Web site. Two women were also in the Boxster when it crashed but no one was reported injured, it said.

Photo: China: table tennis champion fined for drunk driving

Police who arrived at the scene detained Kong for drunk driving, suspended his license for six months and fined him 1,800 yuan (US$80; Ђ 180), said Qin Shanglin, the director of the table tennis division of China's General Administration of Sports.

"Kong is very regretful over what he has done," Qin said. He said the administration had yet to decide how to penalize Kong but that the incident was unlikely to affect his future career in the sport.

Kong garnered a gold medal in the men's singles and a silver in men's doubles with Liu Guoliang during the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia. Last year, he and teammate Wang Hao took the men's doubles gold at the World Championships in Shanghai, according to the AP.