Pride and stress: China's young guns stepping into spotlight in women's basketball

by sportswriters Su Bin and Yao Youming

XI'AN, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- For guard Tian Yuanyuan, wearing the national team jersey is "a dream since I started playing basketball."

That dream came true on Wednesday night in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, when Tian and three other Chinese women's basketball hopefuls made their senior debuts in a warmup game against Spanish club Joventut Badalona. The match followed a four-week plateau training camp in Kunming as coach Gong Luming's squad begins preparations for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games.

With Team China undergoing a generational shift, several new faces have earned their first call-ups. A student at Central South University, Tian helped China win the women's basketball gold at the Rhine-Ruhr World University Games in July.

She played 18 minutes and 44 seconds against Joventut, contributing four points and five assists - second only to starting point guard Li Yuan, who had eight.

"I just tried to do my best, stay focused, encourage teammates and keep pushing myself," Tian said after the game. "The four-week plateau training helped me a lot, as it was my first exposure to such professional coaching, and the staff and veterans constantly offered advice to me."

Coach Gong praised Tian's skills and physicality but noted she still needs to adapt to the system, reduce turnovers and manage tempo. "We'll give her more opportunities so she can progress quickly and meet the demands of major tournaments," he said.

Three other youngsters promoted from the FIBA U19 Women's Basketball World Cup in July also saw action. Despite China's 11th-place finish, Ran Kejia averaged 19.1 points and 11.3 rebounds, Li Yuqian formed a scoring tandem with her, and Xu Fengwei led the team with 4.6 assists per game.

On Wednesday, Ran made an immediate impact with a fast-break basket and finished 2-for-2 for five points. Li scored four points after entering in the fourth quarter, while Xu committed two turnovers in less than two minutes.

Gong revealed Ran had picked up an ankle sprain during training. "She once suffered a serious knee injury, so we are using her with precaution now," he said. As for Xu, he added: "She has good skills and speed, but looked tense today and needs to loosen up."

"We want to gather these talents in the training camp for evaluation," Gong said. "With the World Cup and Asian Games next year, the preparation time is short. We'll focus on willing, high-level players and, through training, prepare them to shoulder major responsibilities." Enditem