A changing of the guard

Every time basketball veteran Han Dejun is substituted during a game, he has a ritual: a salute to the crowd in a different direction. On Wednesday, in the men's bronze-medal match of the 15th National Games in Dongguan, Guangdong province, Han gave his final salute.

At 38, Han officially retired after the match, in which Liaoning lost 60-81 to Sichuan and missed out on a podium finish. In the gold-medal game, host Guangdong defeated Zhejiang 101-65, ending a 12-year wait to reclaim its National Games crown. At the previous two editions of the Games, its tilt at gold fell short, and Liaoning took the title both times, beating the Xinjiang team in 2017 and Guangdong in 2021.

This time around, though, the pair met in the semifinals. Guangdong's 92-73 victory over Liaoning has been hailed by fans as the two sides' most significant showdown over the past decade.

From 2013 to now, four National Games titles have been divided between Liaoning and Guangdong. The CBA champion sides, the Liaoning Flying Leopards and Guangdong Southern Tigers, have each won four championships. At its peak, the rivalry was celebrated by fans as the "Spring Festival gala of Basketball".

The epic rivalry has long transcended pure sport, becoming a symbol of Chinese basketball and a witness to the growth of a generation of players.