THE Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) league concluded its All-Star voting on Friday as Yi Jianlian, the veteran center from Guangdong Southeast Tigers, held on to the first place for the third straight season.

The results also marked Yi’s fifth time as the top vote-getter in CBA All-Star voting.

Yi, the league’s all-time points leader who just represented China at the 2019 FIBA World Cup, led the ballot with 192,084 votes. Former Toronto Raptor guard Jeremy Lin, who now plays for Beijing Ducks, won the Northern Conference with 109,969 votes.

Averaging 20.4 points and 11.1 rebounds per game this season, the 32-year-old Yi helped the defending champion Guangdong stay at the top of the table after 21 rounds.

The two-time All-Star MVP will also debut in the one-on-one session, a newly-added event in this year’s All-Star games, which will take place in Guangzhou on Jan 11 and 12. Yi will be challenged in the front-court by Zhou Qi, the 2.17-meter center from Xinjiang Flying Tigers, while Jeremy Lin and Zhao Rui from Guangdong will be the backcourt pair.

Both Zhou and Zhao played for Team China in 2019 FIBA World Cup held in China from Aug. 31 to Sept. 15. (CGTN)