The Chinese women's national basketball team listen to coach speak at the training camp. /CFP
China will participate in the IFBA Women's Basketball World Cup in Sydney, Australia, from September 22 to October 1. They are in Group A with USA, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, South Korea and Puerto Rico.
The Chinese national team assembled in May to prepare for the World Cup. In mid-Autumn, they flew to Europe for a series of warm-up games against traditional powerhouses including France, Spain and Serbia before departing for Australia in mid-September.
Since the last tournament, China competed at the Asian Games in Indonesia in 2018, the FIBA World Cup in Spain in 2018 and the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. They won the gold medal for the first time in eight years after defeating United Korea in Indonesia, ranked sixth in the World Cup after losing to France in Spain and reached the quarterfinals where they were defeated by Serbia at the Tokyo Olympics.
Han Xu (#21) of the New York Liberty shoots in Game 1 of the WNBA playoffs against the Chicago Sky at Wintrust Arena in Chicago, Illinois, August 17, 2022. /CFP
In the above international tournaments, China's players were fearless on the court even against strong opponents, but had much to improve on details including avoiding too many turnovers.
In Group A at the World Cup in Australia, China's biggest opponent will be USA, which beat China 100-88 in Spain in 2018. That was the smallest deficit for the two teams' matchups since 1983. USA are likely to lead this group and leave three quarterfinals berths for China, Belgium and Bosnia and Herzegovina to secure, as long as they are not upset by South Korea or Puerto Rico.
However, in order not to face strong opponents like Serbia or Australia too early in the knockout stage, China need to rank better than fourth in their group. So, they will need to get at least one win over either Belgium or Bosnia and Herzegovina. It won't be easy since both teams have WNBA players.
Li Yueru (L) of the Chicago Sky holds the ball in the game against the Atlanta Dream at Wintrust Arena in Chicago, Illinois, July 12, 2022. /CFP
China have two WNBA players, Han Xu of the New York Liberty and Li Yueru of the Chicago Sky. Both have joined the national franchise but are still recovering from injuries. How soon they can get back to their best form and build chemistry will matter a lot to the team's performance at the World Cup.
China will play against the group opponents in the following order: South Korea on September 22, Bosnia and Herzegovina on September 23, USA on September 24, Puerto Rico on September 26 and Belgium on September 27.