Original title: Missing the summit for 5 consecutive years, this competition will strive for the championship (quote)
Chinese Women’s Basketball Asian Cup Starts Again (Theme)
Workers’ Daily—China Industry Net reporter Zhu Yanan
From June 26 to July 2, Beijing time, the 2023 Women’s Basketball Asian Cup will start in Australia. As of press time, the Chinese women’s basketball team has started smoothly and has won two consecutive victories in the group stage. After missing the summit for five consecutive Asian Cups (Asian Championships), the Chinese women’s basketball team, which won the runner-up in the World Cup last year, will once again launch an impact on the top of Asia.
Compared with last year’s World Cup lineup, the absence of Li Yueru, Huang Sijing, and Wu Tongtong has caused the Chinese women’s basketball team to lose a lot of strength in various positions, but the Chinese team still sent out the strongest lineup currently available – recalled from overseas Han Xu and Li Meng, who played in the league, retained the framework of the main lineup for the World Cup. At the same time, they recruited veteran Gao Song and young insider Tang Yu to supplement the team lineup. Zheng Wei, the head coach of the Chinese women’s basketball team, said that regardless of the team’s lineup, it is the goal of the Chinese women’s basketball team to strive for the championship with all their strength.
In April this year, FIBA canceled the preliminaries of the Olympic Qualifying Tournament originally scheduled to be held in November this year, which means that only the teams that enter the semi-finals in the Women’s Basketball Asian Cup can qualify for the Paris Olympic Games in February 2024. Women’s basketball qualifying seats, and at the same time get tickets for the 2026 Women’s Basketball World Cup.
The 2023 Women’s Basketball Asian Cup Power Ranking released by FIBA on June 22 shows that the Chinese women’s basketball team tops the list, followed by the Japanese women’s basketball team in second place. The South Korean women’s basketball team in the same group as the Chinese women’s basketball team ranked fourth, and the New Zealand women’s basketball team and the Lebanese women’s basketball team ranked fifth and eighth respectively.
Although it ranks first in the Asian strength list, the defending champion Japan team and the host Australia team are strong opponents for the Chinese women’s basketball team on the way to the Asian Cup. Especially the Japanese team, they have won five consecutive championships in the Asian Cup. This time the roster is led by famous players Takada Maki and Ako Sunflower. Although the Japanese team was questioned due to its poor performance in last year’s World Cup, its overall strength should not be underestimated.
The Australian team participated in the FIBA Asian Games 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. Before the start of this Asian Cup, the Chinese women’s basketball team had a warm-up match with the Australian team, and finally lost to the opponent by 15 points. Strong physical fitness and good tactical skills make the host another strong opponent of the Chinese women’s basketball team.
FIBA once again mentioned the rise of women’s basketball in Asia in an article not long ago. In Asia’s No. 1 group, the competition intensity of China, Japan, Australia, and South Korea is gradually escalating. For the Chinese women’s basketball team, which aims to achieve good results in the Paris Olympics, it is very important to have high-quality competition training.
Looking back at the history of the Asian Cup and Asian Championships of the Chinese women’s basketball team, since the first participation in 1976, the Chinese women’s basketball team has won 11 championships. However, since winning the Women’s Basketball Asian Championship in 2011, the Chinese women’s basketball team has missed the championship in the next five Asian Cups (Asian Championships), and has won three runner-ups and two third runner-ups. In this Asian Cup, striving for the championship has become the biggest goal of the Chinese women’s basketball team. As the coach Zheng Wei said in an interview: “We will go all out to strive for good results, and convey the Chinese women’s basketball team’s determination to face challenges without fear of difficulties and the spirit of selfless dedication, unity and cooperation, and tenacious struggle.”
2023-06-27 18:34:00
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