The women’s basketball Asian Cup 2023 will be held in Sydney, Australia from June 26 to July 2. China was divided into Group A women’s basketball. The same group of opponents included South Korea, New Zealand and Lebanon. The primary goal of the girls was to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games qualifier, while the ultimate goal was to revenge Japan, win the Asian Cup again!
Competition system changes, Asian Cup changes Olympic qualification preliminary
There are 8 teams participating in the women’s basketball Asian Cup, which are divided into two groups, 4 teams in each group. The first group of Group A and Group B directly advanced to the top four, the second group of Group A and the third group of Group B, the second Group B and the third group A fought against each other, competing for the other two four places.
On April this year, the International Basketball Federation canceled the Olympic qualifying qualifier originally scheduled to be held in November, while the top four in the women’s basketball Asian Cup, in addition to winning the direct quota for the women’s basketball World Cup in 2026, it will also win the seats in the Olympic women’s basketball qualifier held in February 2024, launching the final impact on the Paris Olympic Games.
For China women’s basketball, the signing of this competition is good, and the group match is not difficult. The first round is against Lebanon, and the second round is against New Zealand. The third round is South Korea, which is expected to win all, directly promoted to the top four as the first name.
But this is obviously not our ultimate goal. China won the Asian Cup 11 times women’s basketball, second only to the 12th Korean women’s basketball in history, but the last time it won was already 2011! However, in the two Asian Cups in 2019 and 2021, the girls all entered the finals. Unfortunately, they all lost to Japan and became the runner-up. So this time, they must take revenge!
China has become the biggest hit women’s basketball, with Japan and Australia as its main rivals.
In the women’s basketball World Cup last year, the Chinese team successively eliminated France and Australia, and entered the final again after 28 years. Although they finally lost the US team, the girls’ performance was quite outstanding and won the unanimous recognition of public opinion.
Figure note: In the women’s basketball World Cup, China eliminated Australia and advanced to the finals women’s basketball
Therefore, in this year’s women’s basketball Asian Cup, the girls have always been one of the favorites to win the championship, but they have always ranked second in the strength list released by the International Basketball Federation. But after Li Meng and other players returned to the team, they have surpassed Japan and risen to the top!
Li Meng’s support from WNBA has indeed greatly increased China’s women’s basketball strength. She made 10 appearances in Washington mystery man, with an average contribution of 4.6 points in 11.3 minutes, with a three-point shooting rate of%, ranking 9th in the league.
Don’t forget, Li Meng scored 21 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists against the US women’s basketball in the World Cup group match last year, and scored 23 points against France in the top eight. Without her in the last Asian Cup, China lost the final women’s basketball. It can be seen that her importance and influence are quite huge and she has the ability to change the ownership of the champion.
Figure note: Li Yuelu and Huang Sijing both missed the Asian Cup
However, the injury also had a serious impact on China’s women’s basketball. The main players Li Yuelu and Huang Sijing were absent due to injury.
Li Yuelu and Han Xu are the two internal towers of women’s basketball. They have different characteristics but complement each other. Han Xu is good at shooting from medium to long distance, but his ability to fight is average. However, Li Yuelu is a traditional center with strong body and excellent confrontation. However, after the WCBA finals were injured, Li Yuelu was considered not seriously injured at first, and later found that it was a tear of the cross ligament, confirming that he would be absent for a long time.
Huang Sijing is a women’s basketball-year-old striker in China, with a height of 1.92 meters and excellent athletic ability. He can not only help the center to defend, but also defend against small-sized players from the other side. He can be inside and outside, and the three-point ball is very accurate, it is an important scoring tool for women’s basketball. She had been injured all the time. She finally had time after WCBA and received surgery. Unexpectedly, the International Basketball Federation suddenly restructured the Olympic qualifier, finally, Huang Sijing also confirmed that he could not return to the Asian Cup.
In this regard, Zheng Wei, head coach of China’s women’s basketball, said: “No matter what the rosters is, we will do our best to prepare for the war and strive for good results, passing on the determination and selfless dedication of China’s women’s basketball to face difficulties and challenges, the spirit of unity and cooperation and tenacious struggle.”
Figure note: Li Meng and Han Xu who landed in WNBA are the main attack points of the team.
Of course, there are two cores, Han Xu and Li Meng, one inside and one outside. China’s women’s basketball is a hot spot to win the championship, but it needs to face fierce competition between Australia and Japan.
Women’s basketball just had a warm-up match with Australia and lost 15 points, but Li Meng did not participate. In this year’s Asian Cup, Australia did not recruit any active WNBA players (7 players) women’s basketball. Their strength must be damaged, but it also reflects their strong self-confidence.
The biggest rival of China women’s basketball is Japan. Japan has completed 5 consecutive championships in the Asian Cup women’s basketball. This year’s goal is 6 consecutive hegemony, which has been ranked first in the strength list before. They still have two black players, Stephanie and okye. Although Machida was only absent, three people returned to Tokyo Olympic Games: Lin Jianxi, Benqiao Caizi and Dongteng Nanako, therefore, the strength is quite strong.
Here, we wish women’s basketball girls can play their best in the Asian Cup and win the championship again after 12 years!
