China deny speculation over Yao 'retirement'

Chinese basketball officials have denied media reports that NBA All-Star Yao Ming is set to retire from international basketball.

The 7ft-6in (2.286m) Houston Rockets centre has always insisted on representing his country as well as playing in the NBA, a year-round schedule which critics say makes him vulnerable to the injuries that have hampered his career.

The 28-year-old said before August's Olympics that Beijing would be his last Games and a report in a Shanghai newspaper on Tuesday said he no longer felt able to commit his time to the national team.

"We do not know anything about this. He has never told us of his intention of retiring. Never," Hu Jiashi, deputy director of the Chinese Basketball Association, told the China Daily newspaper.

"I have never heard of Yao planning to retire," the player's agent told the paper. "Yao proved he was fully devoted to the national team in the Olympics."

China's next major tournament will be the 2010 world championships in Turkey.