BENGALURU (India) - Keeping the FIBA Women's Basketball League Asia (WBL Asia). crown in China shall be the main objective of Sichuan Yuanda Meile as the club returns to action for the upcoming 2026 competitions.
Tournament history
The Women's Chinese Basketball Association outfit have already competed in the first-ever edition of the continent's most prestigious women's ball club contest back in 2024, held at the city of Chengdu.
And there, the Pandas went on to become the inaugural WBL Asia champions following a 3-game sweep of the quick tournament, capped by a 74-69 victory over the Fujitsu Red Wave of Japan to clinch the title.
Han Xu starred in the triumph with 24 points and 6 rebounds plus 4 assists and 2 blocks, eventually taking home Most Valuable Player honors after finishing as the 2024 games' top scorer with 17.7 points per outing.
The veteran internationalist shot 50-percent from the field, and put up 4.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists as well to post an efficiency of 17.7 an outing.
Path to WBL Asia 2026
Sichuan made their way back into WBL Asia after completing a redemption story back home.
The 2024-25 WCBA season saw the Pandas go back to the Final, only to get bested by the Guangdong Vermillion Birds, who went on to represent the country in the 2025 WBL Asia in Dongguan - and then won it all.
But being the contenders that they are, Sichuan went on a revenge tour during the 2025-26 season, capping it off by reclaiming the throne at the expense of Shanxi Flame in a best-of-5 series that went the distance.
That gave the ball club founded in 1958 their third league championship in four seasons. Will this team soon be able to become the first two-time WBL Asia queens? That would definitely be interesting to see.
Players to watch
Chennedy Carter will serve as one of Sichuan's reinforcements for the October 20-25 showpiece and this should spark much excitement among fans and observers alike after she starred for Al Ula in the 2025 WBL Asia.
There, the WNBA veteran led the league in scoring with 29.0 points per game, including a 45-point eruption against Busan BNK Sum in which she also finished with 11 rebounds and 6 assists in 37 minutes.
It was quite unfortunate, though, that she hardly received any help from the Arabian Leopards aside from Queen Egbo, but now her chances of succeeding shall improve after joining a team that sure knows how to win.
And the 2025 WCBA scoring champion won't have to do it alone, with the Pandas also bringing in another veteran internationalist in Sara Blicavs, who previously played for the Shandong Six Stars in the same league.
She shall bring in size and shooting plus experience, having been a key cog for Australia in which she's helped the Opals rule the FIBA Asia Cup 2025 and win bronze in the FIBA Basketball Women's World Cup 2022.
Leading the locals, on the other hand, would be veteran guard Gao Song, who was also part of the special Sichuan batch - which featured stars such as Xu, Li Meng, and Wang Siyu - that ruled the first WBL Asia edition.
Schedule
FIBA