Players from Zhejiang (in white) and Liaoning (in black) compete in the CBA Finals Game 1 on May 8. [Photo/hangzhou2022.cn]

Did you join the fun at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium last night as the Zhejiang Golden Bulls faced off against the Liaoning Flying Leopards in the first game of the 2022-2023 Chinese Basketball Association Finals?

The Zhejiang Golden Bulls suffered a 99-107 loss to the Liaoning team on their home court, trailing 0-1 in the series. The next round will be held on Wednesday night at the same venue.

The Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium is also the venue for the basketball finals of the upcoming Hangzhou Asian Games. All of this resulted in 13,000 fans coming to the scene to watch the game, take pictures, and celebrate.

How popular was the CBA Finals game? Tickets sold out in just two minutes, with over 10,000 tickets ranging from 300 to 2,080 yuan ($43 to $300).

A young man surnamed Wu, a local fan of the Zhejiang team, set five alarms to remind himself to buy tickets for the first finals game. He was thrilled to finally see his team play live.

For most Hangzhou fans, watching basketball games usually means going to either the Huanglong Sports Center or the Hangzhou Sports Center, where they can cheer on their home team alongside more than 10,000 people. This experience of having 13,000 people cheering in one stadium was a first for many fans. Many were amazed at the deafening noice of the cheering.

The Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium is equipped with comfortable seats, state-of-the-art lighting, LED light strips, and a large 16:9 LED screen. The screen displays high-definition live broadcasts of the game, and there is no delay, even for fans in the higher tiers, allowing them to see everything that happens in real-time.

Fans cheer for the Zhejiang team on their home court. [Photo/hangzhou2022.cn]