China confirms 12-player squad for FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers opener against Japan

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BEIJING, June 15 (Xinhua) -- China's national basketball team announced on Tuesday a 12-player roster to play against Japan in its first game at the 2021 FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers, with center Zhou Qi being absent while recovering from eye surgery.

The 12 players to feature in Wednesday's Japan game are Zhou Peng, Ren Junfei, Hu Mingxuan, Xu Jie, Zhao Jiwei, Zhang Zhenlin, Wu Qian, Lu Wenbo, Zhao Yanhao, Shen Zijie, Liu Chuanxing and Wang Shaojie.

Zhou Qi, playing for the Xinjiang Flying Tigers in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) league, felt uncomfortable in his eye while doing shooting drills during Saturday's final training session before departing for the Philippines to play the Asia Cup qualifiers.

Zhou was later diagnosed with a tear to the retina in his left eye, and received laser surgery on Sunday morning. He departed on Monday evening along with Wang Shaojie, who had been called up by the team to improve its strength inside the paint.

"In consideration of the player's health, we have not put Zhou into our 12-player roster, while Wang will play this match," said the Chinese team in its roster announcement.

According to the rules, team China will confirm its 12-member squad at an official technical meeting one day prior to every game during the competition, and minor changes to the roster can be made within its 14-player roster.

The Chinese team faced great difficulties in its preparation due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as players had little time for regrouping after completing their CBA league and China's 14th National Games preliminary missions, and the team could not arrange warmups like before. The players have trained for around three weeks before heading to the Philippines.

The game against Japan will be the Chinese team's first appearance in an international match in around two years, after their disappointing campaign on home soil at the FIBA World Cup 2019.

"Despite huge difficulties on and off the court, the Chinese team will be united, rise to the challenges and go all out in every game," said the team.

In Group B, China will have another head-to-head with Japan on Saturday. China will also hold two clashes against Chinese Taipei on Thursday and Sunday respectively. Enditem

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