China's All Star NBA centre Yao Ming will wed¹ his teenage sweetheart from Shanghai in August, after an eight-year courtship, state press reported Monday.

Yao Ming and his girlfriend Ye Li.[File Photo]

Yao, who has kept his love life closely guarded from the media, will marry Ye Li in a private family ceremony possibly in Shanghai, the eastern metropolis² where they were born, met and began dating, the Titan Sports Weekly said.

"This is a match based on pure love," the paper said.

The 2.26 metre (seven-foot-six-inch) centre first met Ye in 1999 when he was playing for the Shanghai Sharks men's team and the 1.9 metre Ye was with the club's women's team.

Ye has since gone on to play for the national side, but has been plagued with injuries in recent years.

The two were seen walking hand-in-hand at the closing ceremony of the 2004 Athens Olympics, when their courtship first became public.

According to Titan Sports, Ye, 25, has been a regular at Yao's home in Texas where he stars for the Houston Rockets. She has also studied English at the University of Houston.

Yao, 27, is expected to return to China in July to train and will play matches with the national team in September.

The paper played down widespread rumors³ on the Internet and in the Chinese media that Yao's wedding would be broadcast live on television, with China's Olympic gold medal-winning hurdler Liu Xiang acting⁴ as the master-of-ceremonies.

"On that day there will be no media, basically it will only be relatives from both sides attending," the paper said.

"Yao Ming and Ye Li are doing what they can to protect themselves. They do not want to see any outside factors interfering⁵."

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