Team China at Tokyo 2020: March on with glory in 3X3 basketball

China will be presented by strong teams at the 3X3 basketball tournament which will make its debut at Tokyo Summer Olympic Games.

The Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) announced on July 2 the roster as follows:

Men: Hu Jinqiu, Li Haonan, Yan Peng, Gao Shiyan, Chen Peidong (substitute), Liu Hengyi (substitute)

Women: Zhang Zhiting, Wang Jiyuan, Yang Shuyu, Wang Lili, Wang Haimei (substitute), Li Yingyun (substitute)

Among the men, Hu and Gao have recently risen to prominence in the CBA league while Zhang and the substitute Li were influential in China's victory in the women's tournament of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) in 2019.

"Hu is the core of the men's team. His physical condition and tactical state will inspire the whole team," Liu Zhen, coach of China's 3X3 national men's team, told Xinhua in an interview.

Xu Jiamin, coach of the women's team, said "competitiveness in the international arena is the only criterion in selecting players."

"For those players who were not selected for the Olympic roster, I want to express my gratitude to them," Xu added.

"They worked very hard during the training camp. They helped each other, inspired each other, and made progress together. We ended up participating in the Olympics with only four players, but our team will complete with the persistence and love of these players who were not in the end selected for Tokyo."

Zhang Zhiting of China celebrates as her team wins the final against Hungary in the FIBA 3x3 World Cup women's final in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, June 23 2019. /CFP

Team China have shown excellence in the sport as both the men's and women's teams won championships at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta.

Also, China's women's team won the 2019 FIBA 3x3 Women's World Cup in Amsterdam, the Netherlands – the first Chinese team to win a basketball world title.

Developed from street basketball, this fast-paced version of basketball is considered the world's No.1 urban team sport, the Tokyo 2020 website says.

3X3 made its debut at the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games (YOG) after universal rules were adopted by the FIBA in 2007.

FIBA launched the 3X3 World Cup program among nations in 2012, while the FIBA 3X3 World Tour is club-based.

A view of the Aomi Urban Sports Park, the arena for the 3X3 basketball event at Tokyo Olympics, in Tokyo, Japan, May 16, 2021. /CFP

The sport, the first new Youth Olympics discipline to make it to the full Olympics, debuts in Tokyo.

Eight teams for both men's and women's competitions will compete for glory from July 24 to July 28 at venues of Aomi Urban Sports Park in Tokyo.

Men: China, Serbia, Japan, Poland, Latvia, Netherlands, Belgium, ROC

Women: China, Japan, Romania, Mongolia, United States, France, Italy, ROC

Team China will face Serbia in the opening men's round match. Serbia has won four out of the six World Cups since the inaugural tournament in 2012.

Women's round will begin with the clash between China and Romania.

Russian athletes will compete under the acronym ROC instead of its full name Russian Olympic Committee at both the Summer Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 and the Winter Olympic Games Beijing 2022, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said in a statement in February.

(CGTN)