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Younger, faster and, most importantly, together — China's new-look women's basketball team is primed to speed up its rebuild from last year's Olympic woes, starting with attempting to retain its Asia Cup title on home soil.
Neighboring powerhouse Japan and Oceania giant Australia, however, are determined to spoil the host's party, aiming to dethrone Team China with their finesse, experience and physicality at the FIBA continental showpiece, which tips off group-stage action on Sunday in Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong province.
Winning five of its six warm-up games over the past four weeks, the Chinese women's squad has picked up quite a confidence boost for its title defense, yet the path to gold on home court is far from guaranteed, with head coach Gong Luming urging fans and media to keep their expectations in check.
Citing the team's only warm-up loss to Australia on Sunday, Gong reiterated that only by competing tougher, smarter and with more togetherness can his team reign supreme once more at the biennial tournament, where only the winner qualifies directly for next year's FIBA World Cup in Germany.
"The most valuable experience for us were the two games against Australia, where both teams played with pace and intensity at a high level," Gong said after guiding China to avenge its initial loss to the Aussies with a 73-69 victory on Tuesday.
"The Australian team plays a very physical game, with maturity and toughness. Our players put up a braver fight and responded to that better in the second game. I am quite happy with their effort and fighting spirit.
"We are a new unit, though, having been together for just three months. We still have to improve our chemistry in our offensive routines and defensive rotations.
"We have to get more physical with our game, being able to execute well and shoot sharp enough in the face of high-intensity confrontations. That's the only way to stay competitive in the fast-evolving modern women's game."
Team China's five wins, including two over Japan, during its preparatory journey should be kept in perspective, though, according to captain Yang Liwei, with key rivals not at their best in the warm-ups, due to the WNBA commitments of some star players.
"We have to brace ourselves for far more difficult challenges (in Shenzhen). Japan didn't field its strongest lineup, while Australia clearly held back," Yang said.
The host wasn't at its full strength, either, with veteran forward Li Meng and star center Li Yueru — two formidable members on Team China's 2022 World Cup runner-up roster — absent in Shenzhen, due to Li Meng's lack of training time, according to Gong, and Li Yueru's commitment to her WNBA club Dallas Wings.
China's teen giant Zhang Ziyu, a towering center standing 2.26 meters tall, has loomed large as a strong backup, with the 18-year-old turning heads with her huge presence in the host's first four warm-up wins against the Japanese and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Wielding her exceptional size and power, Zhang bullied her way to 17 points on 74 percent shooting against more experienced opposition, also adding seven rebounds in 12 minutes per night in her first four games at the senior level, posing an intimidating threat in the paint.
Coach Gong prudently kept Zhang on the bench during the following two scrimmages against Australia to manage her workload.
"She's tired and she needs to recover. She's got tremendous potential for sure, yet we don't want to push her too much," Gong said of his decision to rest Zhang.
"We train her with a tailor-made program, and we hope she make slow, but steady progress. She's a future star for Chinese women's basketball."
Team Australia, as a red-hot title favorite in Shenzhen, has paid heavy attention to Zhang, despite not seeing her in action during the warm-ups.
"It will obviously be a different game when she comes on because of her size, definitely," Aussie head coach Paul Goriss said when asked about the imposing young center.
A runner-up at the 2022 FIBA World Cup, Team China is approaching the Shenzhen tournament as the first major step on a journey of redemption, following its disappointing Paris Olympics campaign, which saw the team, tipped for a podium finish, suffer an early exit at the group stage.
Zheng Wei, who led the team to World Cup silver, resigned after the Paris 2024 setback, with Gong, who led the women's team to back-to-back continental crowns at the 2001 Asian championships and 2002 Asian Games, returning for a second stint at the helm.
Drawn into Group A at the four-team Shenzhen tournament, Team China will open its home campaign against Indonesia on Sunday, followed by back-to-back games against South Korea and New Zealand on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively, in the preliminary phase.
The top team in each group advances into the semifinals directly, with the second- and third-placed teams fighting for the two remaining berths in the final four through a playoff round.
Over the past 30 editions of the Asia Cup, formerly the Asian championships, Team China is tied with South Korea for most titles with 12 apiece, double that of their nearest competitor, Japan, which has six gold-medal finishes, five of which came consecutively from 2013-21.
At the last edition in 2023, China denied Japan's attempt for a sixth straight title with a narrow 73-71 win in the Sydney final.
chinadaily
Photo/Xinhua
