Yao Ming weds basket beauty

China's most eligible bachelor, basketball sensation Yao Ming, yesterday married his long-term girlfriend Ye Li at a jealously guarded private ceremony at a luxury hotel in Shanghai. Dozens of security guards patrolled the Shangri-La Hotel in...

China's most eligible bachelor, basketball sensation Yao Ming, yesterday married his long-term girlfriend Ye Li at a jealously guarded private ceremony at a luxury hotel in Shanghai.

Dozens of security guards patrolled the Shangri-La Hotel in Shanghai's financial district where the towering 7ft 6in (2.26-metre) Houston Rockets centre and his 6ft 2in (1.90m) bride-to-be booked rooms and had a wedding banquet, the China Youth Daily said.

Chinese media speculation on the ceremony date reached fever pitch last week after the couple were spotted at a scenic area near Taihu Lake in eastern Zhejiang province taking wedding photos - Yao in a tuxedo and Ye in a white veiled gown.

The relationship between China's richest sportsman and 25-year-old Ye, also a basketballer with the China national team, has tickled Chinese media and sport fans for years.

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