Last Sunday July 23 Chinese film star Wang Baoqiang was named as the ambassador of HC Kunlun Red Star the only professional ice hockey club in China, for the upcoming 2017/2018 season.

Kunlun Red Star presented Wang with a special shirt with his name and the number 99 on it in commemoration of this special role. 

Speaking about his ambassadorial role, Wang hopes that through his own influence, more Chinese will start to familiarize themselves with the game and come to love ice hockey and Kunlun Red Star for the new season. 

The 33-year-old actor also stated that he would invite his friends to set up a celebrity ice hockey team to promote the sport in China.

In 2017, the movie Buddies in India directed by and starring Wang earned box office receipts of US$111m.

The announcement was made at the closing ceremony of the Kunlun Red Star Cup International Youth Hockey Tournament. 39 teams with nearly 1,000 young players, including teams from Russia, Canada and South Korea, attended the seven-day tournament.  

Founded in 2016, HC Kunlun Red Star is the only professional ice hockey club in China and joined the Kontinental Hockey League last season. The club qualified for the 2017 KHL postseason but was defeated by the defending champions Metallurg Magnitogorsk in the conference playoffs at the quarterfinals stage.

Source: HC Kunlun Red Star, Maoyan.com

Proofread by Raymond Fitzpatrick