China aiming to impose themselves with superior size in Women's U18
BEIJING (FIBA Asia U18 Championship for Women 2016) - China have released the names of the 12 players who will be travelling to Bangkok, Thailand to participate in the FIBA Asia U18 Championship for Women 2016 this week.
Four players who played in the FIBA U17 World Championship for Women earlier this year have been chosen to also represent China in this tournament, with the towering Han Xu expected to be the squad’s imposing spearhead.
Xu, a 2.05m behemoth from Hebei, was named one of the All-Star Five in the FIBA U17 World Championship for Women 2016 after averaging 15.0 points, 10.7 rebounds and 2.6 blocked shots per game. For sure, she will be China's main inside presence in this competition, and her impending match up with Korea’s own top flight center, Park JiSu, will be among the main attractions.
See that tall girl on the right? That's CHN's Xu Han. She's 6'9 and just 17 yrs old. Wow, 'di ba? #FIBAAsiaU18Women pic.twitter.com/Ocmc4rbaA9
— Enzo Flojo (@hoopnut) November 7, 2016
Aside from Xu, veterans of China's U17 team who will see action here are Wang Jiaqi, Li Yuan and Zhang Ru. Li and Wang were among the U17 side's top three-point shooters, while Zhang specialized on defense.
| China 12-player roster for FIBA Asia U18 Championship for Women 2016 | |||
| Cao Yijia | Dong Keer | Han Xu | Jia Saiqi |
| Li Yuan | Li Yueru | Liang Liwen | Tan Shuangyan |
| Wang Jiaqi | Zhang Ru | Zhang Tianyu | Zou Qijia |
Aside from Han Xu, a couple of other players expected to contribute heavily are Li Yueru, Zhang Tianyu and Zou Qijia. Yueru, a 2.00m center, should combine with Xu to form a truly frightening twin tower combination for the Chinese, who are looking to win their fourth straight U18 Women's crown and 15th overall. Tianyu and Qijia, meanwhile, are the only 18-year-olds in this roster, which features a relatively young line-up of up-and-coming players.
China will take on Korea on the very first day of competition, which should prove to be a true barn-burner. They next face India, Thailand and Japan before closing Group 1 play against fellow East Asian squad Chinese Taipei. China went a perfect 7-0 in the last edition of this tournament two years ago in Amman, Jordan, and they have a 20-game winning streak dating back to 2010.
The FIBA Asia U18 Championship for Women 2016 runs from 13-20 November and is the qualifying event for the FIBA U19 World Championship for Women 2017, which will be hosted by Italy. The top three teams from the FIBA Asia U18 Championship for Women 2016 will advance to the U19 Worlds.
FIBA
