Fan to auction website created in Chinese tennis star’s name

A fan of Chinese tennis star Li Na,whose popularity soared in the country after she won French Open women’s Championship title recently,plans to cash in on her fame by auctioning a website created in her name. The domain name lina.cn is set to be auctioned next month at reported starting price of 100,000yuan The domain name owner is not Li,but Liu Tailong,who claims to be a big fan. Liu said he bought it for more than 2,000 yuan from another person. He is confident his investment will pay off,Beijing Daily reports.

She is rising in her career,so her influence is expanding, he said.

If not linked with Li Na,the domain name is just ordinary,no one would care about it,not to mention value it, he said.

Liu said he wants to sell the domain name to an organisation connected with Li for a website about tennis. One of the five athletes on the 2011 Forbes Chinese Celebrity list,Li ranks just after NBA all-star center Yao Ming in name recognition.