After a terrifying fall, Red Panda retraces what went wrong and the support that carried her back

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) — Rong Niu's pink sequined dress shimmered under the arena lights at a recent Miami men's basketball game.

The popular halftime performer known as “Red Panda” finished her signature seven-minute set, looked up at a crowd of fans chanting her name and flashed a smile before dismounting.

Cameras rose instantly. A Hurricanes band member shouted "I love you, Red Panda!" A security guard shook his head in disbelief as a nearby fan asked aloud, "How does she do that?” Members of the Hurricanes' dance team lined up for photos with her before she made her exit.

Niu has grown somewhat accustomed to the fanfare over decades performing at NBA, WNBA and college basketball games — her first halftime show was a Los Angeles Clippers game in 1993. Still, even after sports fans rallied around her following a frightening fall during a WNBA game last July, she can hardly put words to what the support means to her.

“I feel so much support," Niu said after performing at Miami’s home game against Stanford on Wednesday. "It’s beyond support — I don’t know. I don’t have a better word to describe that feeling. That was beyond appreciation.”

Niu comes from a family of performing acrobats. She's been doing it since age 7, when her father first discovered her talent by helping her balance bowls and bricks on her head at their home in China’s Shanxi province.

Her act is composed of her riding a custom-built unicycle, which stretches about 8 feet above the court, and balancing custom-made bowls on her lower leg before flipping them atop her head.

During intermission of the WNBA Commissioner’s Cup final between the Indiana Fever and the Minnesota Lynx, Niu fell off her unicycle and crashed to the court a minute into her performance. She remained down for several minutes, was eventually helped off by wheelchair and later diagnosed with a broken left wrist.

“I now realize I was disoriented. It was not just pain right here,” Niu said Wednesday, pointing to her left wrist, which she recalled being swollen and in immense pain. “I wasn’t very clear because of the impact. They said, ‘Can you walk?’ I said, ‘Yes,’ and then I tried to stand up and walk. And then, I think I was passing out."

She spent 11 hours in a Minneapolis hospital, with a pair of Lynx staffers there with her the entire time. As she lay in the hospital bed, she wondered what could have gone wrong during the act she'd performed so many times.

“I’m not saying I’m that good or anything,” she said. “I generally don’t fall. Bowls fall, because the bowls are going into the air and sometimes I’m not able to control (them). But riding the unicycle ... it shouldn’t be out of control.”

Niu returned to the arena after being released from the hospital. Her unicycle was in the same place she'd left it in her dressing room.

She began to inspect it, checking the rotation of the wheel, looking at the handle. Then she noticed one of her pedals was slightly bent. She typically wraps her equipment very carefully when she travels, but it had somehow been damaged in transit; whether during security checks or on the airplane, she's not sure.

“Normally I would set up the unicycle. I will test it. I test like this," she said, turning her wheel as she demonstrated her process of checking the equipment. “I test it. But I didn’t test (the pedal).”

Niu still shudders at the memory of the fall, which required surgery and about four months of recovery, but she received an outpouring of support on social media, including from Fever star Caitlin Clark, as well as cards and gifts.

She returned to action on Oct. 23 for an Amazon Prime event, then back to the NBA court on Nov. 1 for a game between Chicago and Philadelphia.

Returning to the court hasn't been easy.

“I still have the thoughts,” she said. “I still have the thoughts when I start pedaling.”

But as fans chant her name, foregoing halftime trips to concession stands and restrooms to watch her perform, Niu is filled with both gratitude and motivation.

“I want to show that I can do this,” she said. “But (when) I couldn’t do it, they still chanted for me. I feel I owe them something. I feel very appreciative. I don’t have the best words to describe that feeling, but it’s a lot of support. It goes in my heart.”

AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports

Red Panda carries her unicycle back to her dressing room after performing at halftime of an NCAA college basketball game between Miami and Stanford in Coral Gables, Fla., Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Miami cheerleaders react as they meet Red Panda after she performed at halftime of an NCAA college basketball game between Miami and Stanford in Coral Gables, Fla., Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Red Panda performs during halftime of an NCAA college basketball game between Miami and Stanford in Coral Gables, Fla., Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Red Panda performs during halftime of an NCAA college basketball game between Miami and Stanford in Coral Gables, Fla., Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Red Panda performs as Miami's mascot Sebastian the Ibis looks on during halftime of an NCAA college basketball game between Miami and Stanford in Coral Gables, Fla., Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Red Panda performs during halftime of an NCAA college basketball game between Miami and Stanford in Coral Gables, Fla., Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

MADRID (AP) — Anastasia Potapova dropped to her knees, put both hands on her face and started crying.

The “explosion of emotions inside” came after the 56th-ranked Austrian became the first “lucky loser” to reach a WTA 1000 semifinal by defeating Karolina Pliskova 6-1, 6-7 (4), 6-3 on Wednesday at the Madrid Open.

She almost gave up the victory, squandering three match points in the second set and having to overcome a 1-3 deficit in the decisive set.

“I (had) a few match points in the second set, on serve, but I couldn't manage my nerves at that time,” the 25-year-old Potapova said. “It seems that this tournament keeps giving me second chances and I keep using them. So yeah, supper happy.”

The Russian-born Potapova said she got a huge boost when her boyfriend, Dutch player Tallon Griekspoor, arrived to watch.

“I was a little bit gone mentally in the third set. I didn’t believe in myself at that moment,” she said. “But big respect to my boyfriend who came just on time. He saved me. He kept telling me, ‘You can do this, we are all together here, just keep going.’”

Potapova said Griekspoor is “not scared” of telling her anything and deserved some credit for her victory.

“I just played, and mentally he kept me there,” she said. “It just happened at the such important moment, and it gave me a lot of energy. Mentally, I think he got this match. I did it physically. He did it mentally."

She will face either Linda Noskova or Marta Kostyuk for a spot in the final.

Potapova got into the main draw as a lucky loser despite losing her second qualifying match in Madrid. She became the first lucky loser to reach a WTA 1000 or Tier I semifinal since the Tier format’s inception in 1990, according to the WTA.

Potapova went on to win four straight matches, including against world No. 2 Elena Rybakina in the round of 16.

“To be honest, I didn’t expect myself being in the draw again because at first they didn’t take my name as a lucky loser,” she said. “And then the days kept on going and nobody was injured or pulling out. Then the last moment I got the information, literally 30 minutes before the match, that I was given a chance to step on court here again.”

She said she had been just enjoying “some nice days” in the Spanish capital, with no expectations.

“Maybe that’s the key, you don’t need to be always so zoomed in and so locked in on the tournament,” Potapova said. “Maybe it’s just a matter of sometimes just enjoy yourself and enjoy the journey, and maybe that’s how the results can also come.”

She said it feels like “a miracle” to have made it all the way to the semifinals.

"It’s pretty rare when you get the second chance and that you go almost all the way until the end,” Potapova said. “But also at the same time I always say, if you got it, maybe you deserved it. So I did work hard. Also, you know, anyone can get a second chance, but how many of those will actually take it? So I’m happy that I didn’t waste it, and I was able to convert it and to be here now.”

AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis

Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic reacts during her match against Anastasia Potapova of Russia during the Madrid Open tennis tournament in Madrid, Wednesday, April 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Pablo Garcia)

Anastasia Potapova of Russia returns the ball to Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic during the Madrid Open tennis tournament in Madrid, Wednesday, April 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Pablo Garcia)

Anastasia Potapova of Russia reacts during her match against Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic during the Madrid Open tennis tournament in Madrid, Wednesday, April 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Pablo Garcia)

Anastasia Potapova of Russia reacts during her match against Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic during the Madrid Open tennis tournament in Madrid, Wednesday, April 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Pablo Garcia)

Anastasia Potapova of Russia returns the ball to Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic during the Madrid Open tennis tournament in Madrid, Wednesday, April 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Pablo Garcia)