[The first battle leading to the Paris Olympics-China Women’s Basketball Asian Cup prospect] the women’s basketball Asian Cup will be held in Sydney, Australia from June 26 to July 2, 2023, this will be China’s first international competition in women’s basketball after last year’s World Cup and the first step towards the Paris Olympics.
According to the changes in the competition system, the International Basketball Federation canceled the Olympic qualifying qualifier originally scheduled to be held in November this year, which means that only the teams that entered the top four in the women’s basketball Asian Cup, only in this way can we get the right to participate in the women’s basketball qualifying tournament of the Paris Olympic Games held in February 2024and the tickets for the women’s basketball World Cup in 2026.
Although China ranked the top of the women’s basketball Asian Cup in the latest women’s basketball, compared with the runner-up of the women’s basketball World Cup in 2022, the national team faced the challenge of player changes in this Asian Cup. Li Yuelu and Huang Sijing were absent due to injury. Han Xu and Li Meng, who returned from the fire line of overseas league matches, needed to carry a heavier burden at both ends of attack and defense. Yang Liwei in the back court, li Yuan and other players should also take into account the dual roles of organization and attack.
Among the top ten Asian Cup women’s basketball stars selected by the International Basketball Federation, Han Xu and Li Meng, the core of the Chinese team, ranked first and fourth respectively. They are bound to be targeted by their opponents. In order to strengthen the front line and the inside line, Zheng Wei, the head coach of China women’s basketball, listed senior generals Gao Song, young players Tang Yi and Luo Xinzhen on the list of 12 People’s Congress. After nearly three months of domestic training and European training, whether the newly selected players can play their own characteristics in the team’s offensive and defensive system is also one of the highlights of the Chinese team in this Asian Cup.
Although facing the difficulties of running-in of the lineup, Zheng Wei said during the training that he would go all out to convey China’s women’s basketball determination to face the difficulties and challenges. “No matter who the players are, we must do 100% of our efforts even if we only have 1% hope.”
This Asian Cup is divided into two groups. China women’s basketball is divided into Group A with South Korea, New Zealand and Lebanon. According to the competition system, the team leader will directly advance to the top four, and the team two and three teams will compete for the remaining two top four places through the play-off.
China women’s basketball will usher in the first game of the Asian Cup on the 26th, against the Lebanon team who squeezed out India and joined the first group of the Asian Cup two years ago. The last Asian Cup match between the two teams dates back to the women’s basketball Asian Championship in 2011 (the predecessor of the women’s basketball Asian Cup). China won the opponent 79:58 women’s basketball at that time. On the 27th, China will play against New Zealand women’s basketball. In the two Asian Cups in 2017 and 2019, the Chinese team both won a big victory.
Although the South Korean team will still be the biggest trouble for the Chinese team in the group match in the 2021 Asian Cup semi-final, the big score won’t match China women’s basketball. Experienced veterans Kim Danfei, Park Zhixiu and pitcher Jiang Yise, who performed well in the last women’s basketball World Cup, were all included in the Korean team list. The match between China and South Korea will be held on the 28th.
In this Asian Cup, China’s biggest opponent on the way to the Championship women’s basketball was the defending champion Japan team and the host Australia team. The Japanese team has won five consecutive championships in the Asian Cup. The list is led by the famous general Takada Zhenxi and Chisui sunflower. Although the Japanese team was questioned for its poor performance in last year’s World Cup, the fire point outside the world was still not to be underestimated.
The Australian team participated in the Asian Games of the International Basketball Federation as the host for the first time. Although some players were absent due to injuries and overseas league matches, the team still sent a relatively strong local league lineup to participate, the exciting and fierce China-Australia duel in the semi-finals of the women’s basketball World Cup may be repeated.
In a recent article, the International Basketball Federation once again mentioned the rise of the Asian division in women’s basketball. In the first episode, the competition intensity of the league, Japan, Australia and South Korea gradually increased, for China women’s basketball, which aims to achieve good results in the Paris Olympics, it is a good thing to have high-quality competition training.
Earlier, coach Zheng Wei said frankly that China women’s basketball did not have the stable record of the world’s top teams. China women’s basketball will strive to regain the Asian champion who has been away for 12 years and prove himself.
(Xinhua News Agency reporter Cao Yibo, Su Bin)
