Luo Xihe 8-dan upset the odds to beat hot favourite Zhou Heyang 8-dan in the final of the 6th China NEC Cup on 20 January 2001 in Beijing. The underdogs seem to enjoy this tournament of late. Luo's victory follows last year's upset in the 5th Cup when Shao Weigang 9-dan beat the favourite Chang Hao 9-dan.
Luo is 23-year-old from Hengyang in Hunan Province. He is a student of Ma Xiaochun and has been a pro since 1989. His prize was 120,000 yuan while Zhou took away 60,000 yuan.
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Older News From 4 December 2000: IN FORM ZHOU MAKES FINAL
The semi-finals of the 6th NEC Cup were held on 2 December 2000 in Kunming. No doubt the best local Yunnan stones were used, and certainly these semis featured most of the the best of the current crop of Chinese players. Zhou Heyang 8-dan has legitimate claims to be considered the man most in form, and he duly despatched Shao Weigang 9-dan.
In the other game, however, Luo Xihe 8-dan upsets the odds by beating Chang Hao 9-dan.
Zhou and Luo will meet in the final in on 20 January 2001. Our money is on Zhou.
The money man: Zhou Heyang
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Older News From 28 October 2000: SEEDS PROGRESS TO THE SEMIS
The tortuous path of the 6th NEC Cup around the vastness of China continues, but we now know that Chang Hao 9-dan has guaranteed a semi-final place - he defeated Yu Bin 9-dan on 5 August 2000 in Changchun. He was joined on the same day by Zhou Heyang 8-dan who overcame Nie Weiping 9-dan. It was the first games for both Chang and Zhou as both were seeds.
In the other half of the draw, with games held on 21 October in Chongqing, Shao Weigang 9-dan (yet another seed) beat Wang Lei 8-dan. His semi-final opponent will be either Luo Xihe 8-dan or veteran Cao Dayuan 9-dan (game played but awaiting transmission).
The semi-finals are scheduled for 2 December in Kunming, and the final will be in Beijing on 20 January 2001.
Older News From 27 June 2000: LAST EIGHT TO GO NEC AND NEC
The last eight players in the 6th NEC Cup emerged on 27 June 2000 when two further games were played in Round 1 in Hangzhou.
The winners were Cao Dayuan 9-dan (over Liu Xiaoguang 9-dan) and Yu Bin 9-dan (over Zhang Wendong 9-dan). They join Nie Weiping 9-dan and Wang Lei 8-dan who triumphed over Wang Dongliang 6-dan and Ding Wei 7-dan respectively in mid-May in Zhengzhou.
They are joined by four seeds: last term's winner and runner-up, Chang Hao 9-dan and Shao Weigang 9-dan, and Zhou Heyang 8-dan and Luo Xihe 8-dan, who qualified on the strength of previous performances.
The event is modelled on the NEC Cup in Japan. As in its Japanese counterpart, games are lightning games played in different cities and held in public, to bring go the masses. The sponsor, NEC, also supports several other events in China that use NEC in the title, so care is needed to distinguish them.
First prize is 120,000 yuan, high but boosted further by the fact that the winner joins the NEC SuperGo match between China and Japan. Until the Lebaishi Cup this was the most lucrative domestic event. The runner-up earns 40,000 yuan.
The tournament is a knockout starting with 12 players. The previous year's top two are seeded and join the six winners in the quarter-finals.
Time limits are 30 seconds per move plus 10 minutes thinking time. Komi is 2.75 (Chinese rules).
