BEIJING, Feb. 10 -- A new sport has developed in China: predicting the size of the child of Yao Ming and his wife, Ye Li.

Since the pregnancy was announced last month, speculation has swirled around the full-grown height of the offspring of the Houston Rockets' All-Star center, who stands 2.26m, and 1.9m Ye.

While the public is happy to set lofty marks, the couple apparently does not want to see its child grow too tall.

Miao Lijie, Ye's former teammate on the women's national basketball squad, said recently: "I've discussed it (the baby's gender) with Ye several times. Given their height, a girl may be too tall, so they would like to have a boy."

(From L to R) Former national basketball center Zheng Haixia, volleyball spiker Zhao Ruirui and Beijing Ducks center Sun Mingming boast superior height on the court but have suffered a lot from injury as well as inconveniences in daily life

However, it was revealed last week the baby is a girl and the couple has some reason to be concerned.

While great height is a tremendous asset on the basketball court, it carries serious liabilities outside the arena in a world which caters to average size people who fit into average-size shoes and beds.

Great height also leads to the greater possibility of stress-related problems; as has been made evident by the spate of injuries suffered by Yao over the past few years.

There is also added pressure on tall women because it is not easy to find a tall boyfriend like Yao and some men are simply intimidated by the height factor.

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