Yao Ming, 27, 2.26-meter-tall HOUSTON ROCKETS STAR and Ye Li, 25, 1.9-meter-tall who plays for CHINA’s national women basketball team, signed their long awaited marriage certificate on Friday night in Xuhui District Marriage Department in China. They both were seen taking marriage pictures in Taihuyan province last week. The couple reportedly met as teenagers in 1999 when YAO MING was playing for the Shanghai Sharks. Their relationship first became public at the 2004 Athens Olympics, where they were seen walking and holding each other’s hands affectionately at the closing ceremony. They have been courting for almost eight years now and it’s high time that they get married. A low-key wedding ceremony was held on Monday in the five-star Shangri-La Hotel in Shanghai, YAO MING’S hometome.

LONG TERM COUPLE BASKETBALL STARS YAO MING AND YE LI HAPPILY MARRIED

YAO MING AND YE LI WEDDING AT SHANGRI-LA HOTEL, CHINA