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Raptors To Broadcast Game In Mandarin

Tuesday, March 20, 2012The Toronto Raptors and OMNI Television announced Tuesday that the Raptors’ game versus the New York Knicks on Friday, March 23 will be broadcast nationally in the Mandarin language. This marks the team's first television broadcast in the Chinese language in franchise history. Weiping Zhang will handle play-by-play and colour commentary responsibilities for OMNI Television. Zhang was a member of the Chinese Men’s Basketball Team from 1973-81 and helped them win three straight gold medals at the Asian Basketball Championship in 1975, 1977 and 1979. Zhang brings a wealth of sports broadcasting experience, having covered the Asian Basketball Championships, World Basketball Championships, Asian Olympics, World Olympics, NBA All-Star game and NBA finals. "We're thrilled to work with OMNI Television on this exciting initiative that allows us to better connect with Raptors fans in the Chinese community,” said Chris Hebb, senior vice-president of broadcast and content for Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment. "The Raptors have a strong and diverse fan base and with our country's demographics changing at a rapid rate, we’re always looking for new ways to engage our fans.” Friday’s game versus New York will be the fourth and final meeting between the two clubs this season. The game will feature Knicks’ guard Jeremy Lin, who is the first American-born player of Chinese or Taiwanese descent to play in the NBA. Game-time is 7 p.m. ET. (Sportsnet ONE / Sportsnet 590 The FAN / TVA Sports / OMNI Television).