Successful operation boosts Yao's Games hopes

Yao Ming's hopes of taking part in August's Beijing Olympics were given a boost when he underwent successful surgery on his injured left foot in the US on Monday.

The 7ft 6ins (2.286 metre) centre, China's highest earning and most popular sportsman, faces up to four months recuperating after the operation at a hospital in Houston, according to a report on the Houston Rockets website.

"Yao is comfortable and recovering well after surgery," Rockets team doctor Tom Clanton said.

Yao is key to China's hopes of a medal in the Olympic basketball tournament at the Aug. 8-24 Games and a leading candidate to perform the prestigious role of lighting the Olympic cauldron at the opening ceremony.

The diagnosis of a stress fracture to his left foot last week brought an end to the 27-year-old's NBA season, during which he had averaged 22 points and 10.8 rebounds for the Rockets.