SHENZHEN (China) - Zhang Ziyu made a good account of herself in her official senior debut as China ran roughshod over Indonesia, 110-59, for a rousing start to their FIBA Women's Asia Cup 2025 campaign, Sunday night.
The 2024 FIBA U18 Women's Asia Cup MVP played for only a little over 10 minutes off the bench, but made the most out of it as she finished with 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting alongside 4 rebounds and 2 assists.
Serving as a backup to starting center Han Xu, Zhang was subbed in for her senior at the 6:23-mark of the first quarter and scored her first points shortly after - a bucket from close range off a Luo Xinyu assist.
That basket of hers helped the home team to a 15-2 start into the match, which later on became a 28-8 lead to end the said period, which was more than enough to set the tone for an affair so lopsided.
"She just had her 18th birthday last month ," said head coach Gong Luming. "And in the past 10 days, we gave some adjustments to her in practice, so she hasn't been really practicing with us ... it's a new challenge for her, too."
"But she has a very special and unique talent. She gave tons of pressure to the opponent. But in real game situations, there are still areas of her game she needs to polish because she's still very young," she added.
Of course, the good partisan crowd that showed up at the Shenzhen Sports Center appreciated not only Zhang but the entire squad for rolling toward an impressive victory to cap off the first day of competitions.
The reigning champions have taken the early lead in Group A and will definitely look to make it two in a row when they take on another traditional contender in Korea on Tuesday, July 15, at 19:30 local time.
Two other players finished with 13 points in the victory including Luo, who also added 6 rebounds and 4 assists to her name. The other was Yang Liwei, who shot 5-of-76 from the field, including a trio of triples.
Han supplied 12 points and 5 rebounds, scoring 7 of her points in the opening period to help out in their roaring start. Yang Shu and Zhao Ruoyun delivered 12 points apiece, too, while Pan Zhenqi added 11.
Yes, a total of seven players finished in double figures for Team China in the victory that witnessed the squad shoot 61.2-percent from the floor, including 14 threes, thanks to their 32 assists collectively.
It's worth noting, too, that they racked up 18 steals and it served as the main reason behind their opponents' 23 turnovers as they played tremendously on defense to ensure a solid start to their title defense bid.
Kim Pierre-Louis, on the other hand, was the lone bright spot for Indonesia with 16 points and 6 rebounds in the loss.
FIBA