China kicked off their quest for a spot in the 2026 FIBA Women's World Cup with an 81-68 victory over Mali at the qualifying tournament in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, on Wednesday.

Starting center Han Xu scored China's first nine points, but it was not until Yang Shuyu's jumper with 3:30 remaining in the first quarter that China built their first lead of the game. Towering teenager Zhang Ziyu's layup at the buzzer ended the period at 20-20.

Fielding Han and Li Yueru, both of whom just returned from overseas leagues, China had a 9-0 run at the start of the second quarter en route to a 35-29 halftime lead.

Rokia Doumbia made two consecutive three-pointers as Mali pulled within 43-42 midway through the third quarter, but Yang made an immediate response from downtown. The Chinese captain forced the opponents into a timeout with a fast break layup that set it at 51-44.

Zhang showed her strength in the paint, scoring four points in a row as China possessed a nine-point advantage going into the final frame.

Zhang's consistent attacks in the paint and Han's triples helped China stretch their lead to 12 points with seven minutes to play. Then Li followed with another shot beyond the arc. China maintained a double-digit advantage the rest of the way, and Li's three-point play with two minutes remaining effectively sealed the host's win.

Li had a double-double of 21 points and 11 rebounds. Han and Yang chipped in 14 points apiece.

"Though we won the game, the contact level was not as we expected. Our players need to be more physical, especially on rebounding," China coach Gong Luming said at the post-game press conference. "We want to learn our lesson from this game because we want to play more strong teams at international level in the future. This is a good learning process for our team."