China have secured qualification to participate in the FIBA 3x3 Asia Cup Men's tournament in Singapore after beating Tonga and Sri Lanka in the qualifiers on Thursday. The team's head coach Wang Zhanyu said he wanted to see young players grow in the tournament.

The Chinese national team's roster is made up of Liu Zeyi, Zhao Jiaren, Zhao Jiayi and Lyu Junhu. All of them are 23 years old and they came to the training camp after finishing the 2021-22 Chinese Basketball Association games.

"Liu Zeyi, Zhao Jiaren and Zhao Jiayi have not played 3x3 basketball before," Wang said. "All four players worked hard during training and showed good potential. That's why all the coaching staff agreed to select them for the Asia Cup."

Wang said the Asia Cup will be a great challenge to the team, but it's also an important part to the franchise's preparations for the Paris Olympics in 2024. "So, we want them to display what they have learned during the previous training in the Asia Cup games," Wang said. "I hope they can improve their skills and grow as players at this tournament."

There are 12 teams divided into four pools at the Asia Cup. China are in Pool C with the Philippines and the host Singapore. Wang admitted that it is never easy to play against the host team in any event. The Philippines have some great players and have been performing well in Asia all these years. The also have naturalized players in their squad.

"We can't afford to be careless with any of the games. We will spare no efforts against any opponent," Wang said.

The Chinese national team has studied players' performance at the World Cup in June at which China failed to advance from the group stage. Four years ago in the Asia Cup at home in Changsha, central China's Hunan Province, the franchise were third in the end after losing to Australia in the semifinals. It's the best record of the team.

Wang said China will fight to make a breakthrough in Singapore this time. The team is playing both Singapore and the Philippines on Saturday.