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Homecourt advantage, a tall lineup and new coach will be China's
main weapons when they opened their title defense in the 21st Asian
Men's Basketball Championship this summer.
China, who has won six of the past seven editions of the Asian
tournament, gained an extra advantage when the Asian Basketball
Confederation (ABC) named Shanghai, a commercial hub in east China,
on Tuesday as the host for the championships slated from July 20-
28 this year.
Fans' enthusiasm to basketball in Shanghai has been fueled up as
the local club Sharks have put themselves on the track of toppling
reigning champions Bayi Rockets for the season's league title.
The Chinese side will also gain strength from Wang Fei, coach of
the reigning champions Bayi Rockets in the Chinese league, who has
been recalled to call the shots.
The former national player was at the helm of China's men's teams
a couple of years ago before he went to develop himself in NBA,
the world's top basketball league.
Wang is expected to rely heavily on China's young and talented
"Walking Great Wall", composed of 7'11" Wang Zhizhi,
7'6" Yao Ming and 6'11" Menk Batere. All the three have
been linked to NBA with Wang rumored to be the first to join the
league.
Veterans like small forward Liu Yudong and 1999 Asian MVP Hu Weidong
will be other important factors in China's title defense.
"China this year is a cinch to win the crown. I don't think
the Chinese would want to suffer the humiliation of losing in their
own turf, especially since China has not hosted the ABC men's championships
since 1989,"said ABC president Carl Menky Ching.
China, though finishing a disappointing 10th in Sydney Olympics,
is still rated an Asian powerhouse, boasting a total of 11 Asian
titles and aiming to repeat their successful title run in the last
edition of the Asian championships in Fukuoka, Japan.
But China will face fierce challenges from other teams who will
be strongly motivated to do well this year since the finalists are
assured of playing in the 14th world championships in Indianapolis
of the united States.
South Korea, who briefly ended China's reign with a shock win in
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in 1997, is certain to fight the China again
for the top honors.
Despite admittedly poor preparations, the Koreans finished runners-up
to China in Fukuoka with a team led by old-timers Kang Dong Hee
and Hur Jae, who has since retired from international duty in favor
of young talents.
South Korea will not be the only team to challenge China's supremacy
in Shanghai as a bunch of teams from the Gulf region have proven
to be Asia's emerging tigers.
The most successful among these squads is Saudi Arabia, which took
third place in Fukuoka, finishing ahead of traditional heavyweights
like Chinese Taipei and Japan.
Another Mideast squad Kuwait finished sixth in 1999 Asian championships
where Lebanon made the quarterfinals in their first appearance in
the ABC.
(People's Daily 03/21/01)
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