XIANGTAN, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) -- "Grassroots" players, 31 consecutive days, 147 matches... This summer, the 2025 Xiangtan "Tianyi Cup Hi BA" Basketball Tournament (hereinafter referred to as Xiangtan "Hi BA") attracted over one million online and offline spectators, injecting new momentum into Xiangtan's county economy.
The Xiangtan "Hi BA" tournament adheres to the principles of "grassroots nature, localization, and universality." With 62 teams and nearly 1,000 participating players, grassroots players from rural areas, sports enthusiasts from enterprises and institutions, and energetic young students can all pursue their basketball dreams on this open and inclusive court.
Lu Siqin, 32, serves as both forward and center for the Tianyi Development Group team. In his view, sports help cultivate teamwork and resilience. "I've been participating for three consecutive years. Managing projects during the day and grabbing rebounds at night - our team coordination has improved significantly."
During the Xiangtan "Hi BA" period, supporting activities such as food night markets, cultural and tourism exhibitions, and water splashing carnivals were held simultaneously. While players battled intensely on the court, food night markets, cultural exhibitions, and carnival activities unfolded outside the venue, transforming this sporting event into a city-wide cultural feast and consumption boom.
According to statistics, over 10 new merchants and more than 100 mobile vendors emerged around the event venue. Peak nighttime foot traffic exceeded 10,000 people, with comprehensive cultural, tourism, and sports daily revenue surpassing 2 million yuan.
"I can sell over 100 lotus pods in an hour. They're refreshing and can serve as cheering props - everyone loves them," said Tan Huangping, head of Xiangtan County Chaoyi Farm. Many farmers seized the tournament opportunity to actively promote local lotus specialties.
To welcome "Hi BA," Xiangtan County organized specialized teams for round-the-clock construction, transforming unused space under bridges into a multifunctional sports hub in just 15 days. This created a "sports economy circle" centered on the basketball court and extending to the riverside scenic belt, alleviating the shortage of urban sports facilities while becoming a new scenario for stimulating nighttime consumption and urban vitality.
Vendor Yao Yanzhao traveled specifically from Changsha to set up his stall. "During the tournament, I averaged over 100 coconuts sold each night. I'd definitely come back next year if there's an opportunity."
Xiangtan is expanding sports benefits through measures including improving nighttime sports infrastructure, enriching nighttime sports offerings, and creating a favorable nighttime sports atmosphere. Xiangtan County actively introduces new formats such as "24-hour" gyms, optimizes transportation in nighttime economic zones and surrounding areas, adds night bus routes, and improves leisure, sanitation, and communication facilities to encourage residents to participate in nighttime fitness, further injecting new momentum into high-quality county economic development.