SHANGHAI -- The international rugby federation is set to tackle the Chinese market, supporting a local push to attract 1 million players over the next five years and create professional leagues.World Rugby on Wednesday announced a $100 million commitment by Alisports, a division of e-commerce giant Alibaba, to develop the game in China over the next decade.World Rugbys strategic mission is to grow the global rugby family, World Rugby chief executive Brett Gosper said. China is central to that mission.We are confident that we can build a strong and sustainable platform from which to ensure that China is in the best possible position to become a major force on the international stage with strong mens and womens sevens and 15s teams, sustainable leagues, model development and participation programs and real major event hosting potential.Asia is a growth market for rugby union, which went professional in 1995 and has been dominated by New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, England and France at the highest level in the traditional 15-a-side format.Japan has contributed heavily to the growth on the continent, with a long-established professional set up and growing strength on the international scene. Japan caused one of the biggest upsets ever at a Rugby World Cup by beating two-time champion South Africa last year in England, and will host the 2019 World Cup.Japan also left its mark on rugbys return to the Olympics, when it upset New Zealand in the mens rugby sevens competition in Rio de Janeiro. Fiji won the mens gold medal -- the countrys first ever Olympic medal -- and Australia won the womens gold, the first ever awarded in womens rugby or in the abbreviated seven-a-side format.At the 2014 Asian Games, Japan beat Hong Kong for the mens gold medal in rugby sevens and China edged Japan 14-12 in the womens final.Rugbys growth in Asia has been driven by sevens in recent years, but the development in China is targeted at both 15s and sevens and using school and university programs to expand the sport.The Chinese Rugby Football Association said there were 30 registered players in China in 1991, when the sport re-emerged from a dormant period in the country at a university in Beijing. That has grown into the thousands as rugby became an official sport of the military.Rugby is a great Olympic team sport with strong values, which is why we are so excited about its undoubted potential in China, Alisports CEO Zhang Dazhong said in a statement. 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Mens Shoes Ireland Melbourne United survived a late scare and snapped their National Basketball League season duck with a 98-87 victory over the Adelaide 36ers on Friday night.Piloted by Tai Wesley (18 points) and Todd Blanchfield (17), Melbourne exploded with a dominant 32-17 second term and led by as many as 24 points late in the third quarter in Adelaide.With skipper Mitch Creek exiting the match with a leg injury sustained in the first quarter and star guard Jerome Randle (20 points) fouling out late, Nathan Sobey provided much-needed spark off the bench for the home side, helping peg the gap back to five points near the death.But they werent able to overhaul those final buckets and slipped to a 1-2 record.United led by one point after a see-sawing opening stanza before blitzing Adelaide in the second, with Blanchfield catching fire from the perimeter and Wesley proving a powerhouse in the paintAfter a tough first half - on the back of sustained shooting ails in the opening round - Chris Goulding finally found his range, while Wesley demonstrated a nice outside stroke to go with his inside game, as Melbourne worked out to 80-56 late in the third.While United fired on all cylinderss, Adelaides offence repeatedly spluttered with poor shot options and consistent turnovers proving costly before Sobey and Ferguson did their best to conjure a last-ditch miracle.ddddddddddddive points down inside the final 30 seconds, Daniel Johnson fluffed two late chances to steal the unlikeliest of wins and Melbourne iced it from the stripe through Goulding.Adelaide coach Joey Wright took some heart from the Sixers fierce fourth-quarter fightback even though the damage was already done.Its great that we came back ... we knew if we played like that from the beginning wed be successful. But we didnt.They controlled the tempo in our own gym which was disappointing.Melbourne coach Dean Demopoulos said United must improve their ability to close out opposition fourth-quarter comebacks, after his sides 24-point third-quarter lead was whittled to just five points inside the last minute.Obviously wed like to do better, he saidBasketball is a game of runs and every team is going to get them.We could do a better job of closing that quarter out. ' ' '